Presented 


//-  7./?. 


OJbcfllngtra/ 


PRINCETON,  N.  J. 


4 


by„_  Dhe.  CAuVnor.. 

Division  6> 


: J C - 


Section 


THE  WAR  AND  THE  BIBLE 


BY  THE  SAME  AUTHOR 
Aspects  of  the  Bible 
The  Jewish  Life 
The  Synagogue  in  Modern  Life 
The  Varied  Beauty  of  the  Psalms 
The  Effects  of  Religion 
The  Faith  of  Israel 
The  Allied  Countries  and  the  Jews 


THE  WAR 
AND  THE  BIBLE 


, .a&X  Or  vm 
v 


( NOV  7 191Q 

y by 

H.  G.  ENELOW,  D.D. 

Temple  Emanu-El,  New  York 


jQcto  gotfe 

THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 
1919 

A.U  rights  reserved 


COPYBIGHT,  1918 

By  THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 


TO 

MY  DEAR  FRIEND 

ALFRED  SELLIGMAN 

ELOQUENT  CHAMPION  OF 
DEMOCRACY  AND 
OF  FAITH 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2017  with  funding  from 
Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Library 


https://archive.org/details/warbibleOOenel 


CONTENTS 

The  Spiritual  Problems  of  the  War  . . i 

The  Attitude  of  the  Bible  Toward  War  8 


The  Ethics  of  War  in  the  Bible  ...  20 

Some  Great  Wars  of  the  Bible  ...  34 

Heroes  of  War  in  the  Bible  ....  47 

The  War  Poetry  of  the  Bible  ...  63 

War  Prayers  in  the  Bible 82 

Parallels  to  the  War  in  the  Bible  . . 92 

The  Peace  Ideals  of  the  Bible  . . . 103 


THE  WAR  AND  THE  BIBLE 


THE  WAR  AND  THE  BIBLE 


THE  SPIRITUAL  PROBLEMS  OF  THE 
WAR 

In  every  country  the  Great  War  has  created  not 
merely  military  and  economic  problems,  but  also 
spiritual  problems  of  many  aspects.  M.  Henri  Berg- 
son has  remarked  that  upon  the  outbreak  of  the 
war,  France  at  once  changed  spiritually  — she  be- 
came like  a cathedral,  solemn  and  grave.  No  one 
who  was  in  France  in  those  fateful  days  of  August, 
1914,  could  escape  that  transformation.  The  air 
was  charged  with  spiritual  awe.  A similar  effect  the 
War  has  had  in  every  other  country  touched  by  it, 
though,  of  course,  each  has  expressed  it  in  its  own 
way.  It  is  not  certain  to  what  degree  we  have  been 
spiritually  affected  by  the  War.  Perhaps  there  has 
not  yet  been  that  impact  upon  our  mind  and  soul, 
that  challenge,  that  catharsis , which  others  have  ex- 
perienced, and  which  has  found  voice  in  so  many 
of  the  literary  productions  of  the  past  four  years. 
But  that  it  is  sure  to  come,  there  is  not  the  shadow 
of  a doubt.  “ Man  liveth  not  by  bread  alone  ” — this 
the  War  has  proved  anew.  The  present  struggle  de- 


2 


The  War  and  the  Bible 


mands  the  help  not  only  of  commanders  and  com- 
missaries but  also  of  poets  and  philosophers.  An 
American  reporter  said  the  other  day  that  the  War 
is  nothing  but  “ a colossal  merchandising  proposi- 
tion with  men  instead  of  materials.”  But  this  is  only 
one  way  of  viewing  it  — and  not  the  most  exalted 
way.  The  nearer  we  get  to  the  combat,  the  more 
the  spiritual  problem  is  sure  to  weigh  upon  us. 

In  the  early  days  of  the  War,  it  was  thought  by 
many  that  the  whole  spiritual  problem  was  a ques- 
tion of  the  success  or  failure  of  Religion.  There 
were  those  who  thought  that  when  they  said  that 
the  War  signified  the  collapse  of  Religion  or  the 
bankruptcy  of  the  Church,  they  had  settled  the 
matter.  As  if  that  removed,  solved,  or  mitigated  the 
problems  which  on  a sudden  confronted  the  spirit  of 
man.  Their  attitude,  however,  involved  a twofold 
error. 

In  the  first  place,  there  is  no  such  thing  as  an 
abstract  Religion,  or  an  abstract  success  or  failure 
of  Religion.  It  means  absolutely  nothing  to  say  that 
Religion  has  failed.  Religion  is  two  things:  first,  an 
interpretation  of  the  world,  and  second,  a mode  of 
life.  We  might  say  that  men  had  proved  that  their 
particular  religion  represented  a false  or  baleful  view 
of  the  world ; or  we  might  say  that  men  had  shown 
that  their  religion  had  produced  a pernicious  form 
of  life.  But  this  would  contain  no  affirmation  con- 
cerning all  Religion,  and  certainly  no  wholesale  con- 
demnation of  the  religious  idea  or  mode  of  life.  It 


The  Spiritual  Problems  of  the  War  3 


merely  would  affirm  something  about  a certain  kind 
of  religion  and  conduct. 

The  second  error  was  one  of  observation.  It 
is  clear  now  that  the  War,  far  from  killing  inter- 
est in  Religion,  has  served  to  spread  and  intensify 
it.  In  European  countries  this  was  noticeable  at 
once,  and  the  effect  has  been  felt  among  us.  The 
literature  of  the  time  certainly  has  proved  it. 

As  a matter  of  fact,  the  spiritual  problem  of  the 
War  goes  far  deeper  than  the  question  of  the  fail- 
ure of  organized  Religion,  or  of  any  particular  form 
of  it.  What  it  consists  in  is  rather  the  relation  of 
the  War  to  the  spiritual  and  ethical  side  of  life, 
the  compatibility  of  the  phenomena  of  the  War 
with  the  ideals  underlying  our  modern  civilization. 
And  there  is  good  reason  why  this  spiritual  prob- 
lem should  have  swiftly  become  keen  and  wide- 
spread. Civilization  never  before  had  been  as  uni- 
versal as  it  was  before  the  outbreak  of  the  War. 
Nor  had  the  ideals  of  civilization  ever  been  so 
universally  acknowledged  as  the  proper  goal  of  man. 
Never  before  had  the  practical  purpose  of  Reli- 
gion been  so  generally  accentuated,  its  aim  to  serve 
not  merely  as  a means  of  preparing  for  the  here- 
after, but  as  a force  making  for  a better  life  and  a 
happier  world  here  on  earth.  Never  before  had  the 
belief  in  the  unity  of  civilization  and  the  brother- 
hood of  man  become  so  universally  recognized  a 
part  of  Religion.  It  is  because  the  War  caused  such 
a terrible  shock  to  these  ideas  of  the  dominant  Civ- 


4 


The  War  and  the  Bible 


ilization  and  Religion,  that  it  has  made  men  look 
up  and  wonder,  forced  them  to  examine  afresh  the 
spiritual  bases  of  their  lives  and  the  spiritual  ideals 
upon  which  their  civilization  has  rested. 

“ An  age  is  dying,  and  the  bell 
Rings  midnight  on  a vaster  deep. 

But  over  all  its  waves,  once  more 
The  searchlights  move,  from  shore  to  shore. 

And  captains  that  we  thought  were  dead, 

And  dreamers  that  we  thought  were  dumb, 

And  voices  that  we  thought  were  fled, 

Arise,  and  call  us,  and  we  come: 

And  ‘Search  in  thine  own  soul,’  they  cry; 

* For  there,  too,  lurks  thine  enemy.’  ” 

Of  course,  there  are  such  as  believe  that  all  hu- 
man history  is  but  a series  of  accidents.  There  are 
those  who  think  that  all  history  is  the  result  of 
economic  struggle.  For  them,  the  War  has  no  spir- 
itual problems.  As  they  interpret  all  life  in  terms 
of  matter,  this  conflict,  with  its  trials  and  tragedies, 
is  no  exception.  The  difficulty  exists  for  those  only 
who  believe  that  there  is  an  ascending  purpose  in 
human  history,  who  believe  that  life  is  not  a mere 
chain  of  accidents,  who  believe,  in  a word,  that  there 
is  a God  in  the  world,  concerned  with  the  evolu- 
tion of  human  affairs  and  the  determination  of 
human  destiny.  It  is  such  who  in  the  face  of  the 
War’s  phenomena  are  moved  to  ask  again  some  far- 
reaphing  questions. 

Why  does  God  permit  war?  Or,  does  He  want 
war? 


The  Spiritual  Problems  of  the  War  5 

What  is  the  purpose  of  all  this  misery  and  slaugh- 
ter? 

Why  are  so  many  innocent  victims  allowed  ? 
How  shall  we  explain,  for  example,  the  slaying  of 
two  such  upright  and  liberty-loving  men  as  the 
former  Russian  ministers  who  one  night  were  as- 
sassinated in  a Russian  hospital? 

What  has  Religion  to  say  on  these  themes? 

Will  men  ever  cease  to  engage  in  such  combats, 
or  is  it  a matter  of  no  moment,  from  a spiritual 
point  of  view,  whether  they  do  or  no? 

These  are  some  of  the  questions  that  the  War 
has  raised.  And  one  other,  which,  in  a way,  is 
fundamental:  What  is  death,  and  what  the  destiny 
of  the  dead?  After  all,  the  question  of  the  nature 
of  death  and  of  the  hereafter  is  never  far  from  the 
purlieus  of  thought.  To  think  about  life,  is  to  think 
about  death.  The  two  are  interrelated — two  sides 
of  the  mirror  of  existence.  They  interact  upon  one 
another.  They  are  linked  in  our  minds — but  never 
so  much  as  when  experience  has  brought  the  sub- 
ject near  to  our  hearts.  The  very  multitude  of 
deaths  caused  by  the  War  has  inevitably  turned  the 
human  mind  anew  to  a contemplation  of  death, 
and  of  all  the  themes  that  cluster  about  it.  It  was 
no  accident  that  M.  Paul  Bourget,  in  the  early 
days  of  the  War,  wrote  a story  called  “ The  Sense 
of  Death,”  and  that  M.  Maeterlinck,  who  for  years 
had  tried  to  penetrate  the  veil,  should  have  been 
stimulated  to  grapple  with  the  subject  more  than  ever. 


6 


The  War  and  the  Bible 


These  are  some  of  the  questions  that  the  War 
has  quickened  in  human  minds. 

But  it  is  not  enough  to  pose  these  questions.  We 
want  an  answer.  The  answer  will  depend  upon 
each  man’s  general  philosophy.  In  effect,  these  prob- 
lems are  not  new.  It  is  our  relation  to  them  that  is 
new.  They  are  new  for  us,  in  so  far  as  they  have 
just  come  into  our  experience,  and  have  invaded 
it  with  tremendous  force.  But  the  nature  of  the 
problems  is  as  old  as  human  experience  and  human 
thought. 

What  is  the  answer  of  the  religious  person? 

Briefly,  it  is  as  follows: 

(a)  There  is  a God  in  the  world,  or  a Power 
that  makes  for  the  advancement  and  vindication  of 
Righteousness.  But  for  the  presence  of  such  a 
Power,  the  world  would  be  chaos,  and  without  be- 
lief in  it  life  would  not  be  worth  living. 

(b)  Man  is  spiritually  related  to  God  and  he 
is  designed  to  maintain  his  relations  with  God. 
This  he  can  do  by  the  exercise  of  his  spirit  in  com- 
munion with  God  and  by  the  pursuit  of  Righteous- 
ness in  his  active  life.  In  other  words,  he  can  pray 
to  God  and  cooperate  with  Him. 

(c)  In  the  conduct  of  his  life,  man  ofttimes  is 
forced  to  face  evil.  Why  evil  exists  in  the  world, 
it  is  not  easy  to  explain.  Yet,  it  is  a means  of  chast- 
ening and  improvement.  Man  is  called  upon  to  fight 
against  evil  and  in  the  combat  his  true  greatness  and 
divinity  are  unfolded. 


The  Spiritual  Problems  of  the  War  7 


(d)  War  is  part  of  the  evil  of  the  world.  It  is 
a sign  of  our  distance  from  the  goal  of  Righteous- 
ness. If  mankind  lived  according  to  the  ethical  and 
the  spiritual  law,  war  would  cease.  But  as  long  as 
man  violates  the  law  of  Righteousness,  war  will  con- 
tinue, and  the  good  will  have  to  suffer  with  the  bad, 
for  the  sake  of  the  common  perfection. 

(e)  If  the  War  stimulates  the  world  toward  a 
greater  love  and  more  continuous  practice  of  the 
law  of  Righteousness,  the  terrible  sacrifice  and 
hardships  it  has  involved  shall  not  have  been  in 
vain. 

(f)  As  for  the  individual  victim  of  the  war,  his 
death  is  part  of  the  universal  mystery  of  Death, 
save  that  it  is  glorified  by  its  cause.  To  believe  in 
God  is  to  believe  in  the  continuance  of  His  love 
beyond  the  tomb.  Where  faith  dwells,  there  is  no 
fear  of  death. 

“ I place  my  soul  within  His  palm 
Before  I sleep  as  when  I wake, 

And  though  my  body  I forsake, 

Rest  in  the  Lord  in  fearless  calm ! ” 

It  is  natural  to  ask  what  the  Bible  has  to  say  on 
these  subjects.  The  Bible  is  the  foundation  of  our 
faith.  It  also  is  full  of  war  and  rumors  of  war. 
What  is  the  attitude  of  the  men  of  the  Bible  — of 
its  poets  and  seers  — toward  war,  and  what  mes- 
sage have  they  for  us?  Can  they  help  us  to  think, 
to  pray,  to  act,  and  to  hope  to-day?  To  answer  these 
questions,  we  shall  aim  in  these  chapters. 


THE  ATTITUDE  OF  THE  BIBLE 
TOWARD  WAR 


The  question  of  the  attitude  of  the  Bible  toward 
war  is  often  complicated  by  prejudice.  On  this,  as 
on  other  subjects,  people  find  in  the  Bible  not  what 
it  really  contains,  but  what  they  like  to  put  into  it. 
Before  the  outbreak  of  the  War,  the  ideal  of  peace 
was  in  the  air.  There  was  more  discussion  and 
praise  of  international  peace  than  during  any  other 
period  of  human  history.  In  those  halcyon  days  — 
who  will  not  remember?  — the  Old  Testament  had 
become  a stumbling  block  to  some  and  unto  others 
foolishness,  because  it  had  so  much  to  say  about  war. 
Some  theologians  actually  proposed  the  abandonment 
of  the  Old  Testament  by  the  Christian  Church.  It 
was  a millstone  round  the  Christian’s  neck,  they 
said,  because  it  spoke  too  much  about  strife,  and 
warfare,  and  bloodshed,  and  not  enough  about  love 
and  peace.  On  the  other  hand,  at  present  extreme 
pacifists  do  not  hesitate  to  affirm  that  all  war  is 
against  the  spirit  of  Religion,  that  the  Bible  dis- 
approves of  it,  and  that  the  genius  of  the  Jewish 
“ people  ” had  always  been  opposed  to  it. 

If  one  knows  the  Bible  at  all,  one  must  realize 
that  both  these  views  are  unfair : the  Bible  is 
8 


The  Attitude  of  the  Bible  Toward  War 

neither  the  blood-thirsty  book  that  the  ante-bellum 
assailants  made  it  out  to  be,  nor  the  pacifist  tract 
it  is  depicted  by  demagogues  of  to-day.  “ Our 
knowledge  of  Scripture,”  says  Spinoza,  “ must  be 
looked  for  in  Scripture  only.  The  universal  rule  in 
interpreting  Scripture  is  to  accept  nothing  as  an 
authoritative  Scripture  statement  which  we  do  not 
perceive  very  clearly  when  we  examine  it  in  the 
light  of  its  history.”  There  is  only  one  way  to  de- 
termine the  attitude  of  the  Bible  toward  war.  It 
is  the  historical  way.  It  is  by  realizing,  first  of  all, 
that  the  Bible  is  not  one  book,  nor  the  product  of 
one  period  or  of  one  man,  nor  addressed  to  one 
audience. 

The  Bible  is  a collection  of  books;  it  took  hun- 
dreds of  years  to  come  into  being;  the  thoughts  of 
various  groups  of  historians,  prophets,  and  poets  are 
reflected  in  its  pages,  and  a large  variety  of  audi- 
ences are  addressed  by  its  authors,  and  by  the  Spirit 
speaking  through  its  authors.  It  addresses  itself  not 
only  to  Israel,  and  not  only  to  the  several  groups 
and  classes  of  Israel,  but  also  to  peoples  other  than 
Israel  — both  friend  and  foe  — and  particularly  on 
the  subject  of  War.  Amos,  for  instance,  chastises 
Syria,  Philistia,  Moab,  and  others  for  their  barbar- 
ous warfare;  Isaiah  of  Babylon  welcomes  Cyrus  as 
the  Anointed  of  God ; Ezekiel  denounces  the  arro- 
gance of  both  Tyre  and  Egypt,  and  so  forth.  It 
would  be  foolish  to  expect  all  these  poets  of  the  Bible 
to  speak  in  one  uniform  strain  about  war. 


10 


The  War  and  the  Bible 


Yet,  one  thing  is  remarkable,  and  particularly  to 
be  noted  to-day.  Nowhere  in  the  Bible  do  we  find 
condemnation  of  war  as  such.  There  are  injunc- 
tions as  to  the  avoidance  of  war,  there  are  indica- 
tions of  the  horrors  of  war,  reminders  of  the  puni- 
tive character  of  war;  there  is,  in  fine,  the  glorious 
prophetic  vision  of  an  ultimate  universal  peace.  But 
nowhere  in  the  Bible  do  we  find  a positive  con- 
demnation or  prohibition  of  war  as  such,  as  con- 

ry  to  the  ethical  law  or  the  religious  spirit. 

The  reason  for  it  we  can  easily  find  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  Jewish  people  during  the  period  of  the 
Bible.  There  would  have  been  no  Jewish  people  if 
the  men  of  Bible  times  had  been  ruled  by  pacifist 
ideas  of  latter-day  stamp  — if  they  had  been  unwill- 
ing or  unfit  to  fight  for  their  survival.  No  remnant 
of  them  would  have  been  left.  There  would  never 
have  been  such  a thing  as  a Bible. 

It  would  seem  fair  to  say  that  the  Jews  began 
as  a peaceable  group,  with  a peaceful  mode  of  life 
and  ideas.  The  early  records  and  traditions  of  Jew- 
ish history  bear  witness  to  this  fact.  Originally,  the 
Jews  were  a pastoral  and  an  agricultural  people. 
Among  such  folk  there  is  no  inclination  to  fight 
with  one  another  for  the  sheer  love  of  fighting. 
They  have  enough  to  do  to  fight  the  elements.  Their 
energy  is  spent  in  the  culture  of  their  soil  and  the 
care  of  their  flocks.  A picture  of  this  original  He- 
brew ideal  we  have  in  the  story  of  Abram  and  Lot. 
It  was  their  servants  that  took  to  quarreling.  But 


The  Attitude  of  the  Bible  Toward  War  1 1 


Abram  said,  “ Why  should  there  be  strife  among  us? 
There  is  enough  land  to  go  around.  Let  us  choose 
each  his  part,  and  avoid  strife ! ” 

“And  Abram  said  unto  Lot:  ‘Let  there  be  no  strife, 
I pray  thee,  between  me  and  thee,  and  between  my 
herdmen  and  thy  herdraen;  for  we  are  brethren.  Is 
not  the  whole  land  before  thee?  separate  thyself,  I 
pray  thee,  from  me;  if  thou  wilt  take  the  left  hand, 
then  I will  go  to  the  right;  or  if  thou  take  the  right 
hand,  then  I will  go  to  the  left.’  So  Lot  chose  him  all 
the  plain  of  the  Jordan;  and  they  separated  themselves 
the  one  from  the  other.” 

Such  a peaceable  spirit  runs  through  the  early 
records  of  the  Jewish  people.  Jacob  is  depicted  as  a 
home-dwelling  man,  in  distinction  to  Esau,  the  lover 
of  wild  adventure.  It  would  seem  that  the  love  of 
peace  was  in  the  heart,  in  the  blood,  of  Israel.  The 
word  peace  was  frequently  employed  in  Hebrew 
speech.  It  was  part  of  ordinary  salutation  and  bene- 
diction. It  formed  part  of  the  crowning  ideal  of 
Israel,  the  hope  of  the  Messianic  age.  Even  Israel’s 
ideal  King,  David,  is  not  allowed  to  build  the  Tem- 
ple, and  thus  to  fulfill  his  heart’s  dearest  desire, 
because  he  has  shed  blood.  This  privilege  is  left  to 
Solomon,  whose  name  and  reign  are  associated  with 
peace.  Again  and  again,  the  original  Jewish  love  of 
peace  affirmed  itself.  It  found  expression  in  the 
name  of  Jerusalem  — the  “ Foundation  of  Peace.” 

Yet,  whatever  the  natural  bent  of  Israel,  he  soon 
discovered  that  he  could  not  possibly  survive  unless 


12 


The  War  and  the  Bible 


he  was  willing  and  ready  to  fight.  Every  stage  of 
Bible  history  testifies  to  this  fact.  The  national  pe- 
riod of  Jewish  history  begins  with  the  deliverance 
from  Egypt.  We  are  told  that  at  the  Red  Sea  the 
Jews  did  not  know  how  to  fight.  Timid  and  be- 
wildered, they  were  ready  to  retrace  their  steps. 
Had  they  been  permitted  to  do  so,  their  end  would 
have  come  right  there  and  then.  On  that  occasion, 
we  are  told,  a miracle  occurred  and  God  fought  for 
them. 

“ And  when  Pharaoh  drew  nigh,  the  children  of 
Israel  lifted  up  their  eyes,  and,  behold,  the  Egyptians 
were  marching  after  them;  and  they  were  sore  afraid; 
and  the  children  of  Israel  cried  out  unto  the  Lord.  And 
they  said  unto  Moses:  ‘Because  there  were  no  graves 
in  Egypt,  hast  thou  taken  us  away  to  die  in  the  wilder- 
ness? wherefore  hast  thou  dealt  thus  with  us,  to  bring 
us  forth  out  of. Egypt?  Is  not  this  the  word  that  we 
spoke  unto  thee  in  Egypt,  saying:  Let  us  alone,  that 
we  may  serve  the  Egyptians?  For  it  were  better  for 
us  to  serve  the  Egyptians,  than  that  we  should  die  in 
the  wilderness.’  And  Moses  said  unto  the  people:  ‘Fear 
ye  not,  stand  still,  and  see  the  salvation  of  the  Lord, 
which  He  will  work  for  you  to-day;  for  whereas  ye 
have  seen  the  Egyptians  to-day,  ye  shall  see  them  again 
no  more  forever.  The  Lord  will  fight  for  you,  and  ye 
shall  hold  your  peace.’  ” 

The  point  is  that  the  Israelites  were  made  to  real- 
ize that  in  the  life  of  an  historical  people  — a peo- 
ple with  a history  behind  it  and  in  front  of  it  — 
there  can  be  no  reversion,  no  looking  back.  There 
must  be  capacity  and  readiness  for  war,  if  progress 


The  Attitude  of  the  Bible  Toward  War  13 


demands  it.  Gradually,  the  Jews  are  taught  not  to 
depend  upon  miracles.  History  is  not  a succession 
of  miracles,  any  more  than  a series  of  accidents.  A 
people’s  history  is  the  unfoldment  of  its  own 
strength.  Jjijthe..  Wilderness  the  Jews  learn  to 


because  otherwise  they  cannot  advance.  The  Ama- 


lekites  appear  in  their  path,  and  attack  them.  Fight 


they  must,  or  succumb.  Moses  asks  the  King  of 
Edom  for  permission  to  pass  through  his  country 
peaceably.  Edom  refuses,  and  Israel  turns  away, 
but  when  Sihon  the  Amorite  is  asked  for  similar 
permission,  he  not  only  refuses,  but  declares  war. 
The  Israelites  are  forced  to  fight  against  him. 
Finally,  as  they  reach  Canaan,  we  know  how  futile 
would  have  been  any  effort  at  peaceable  penetration. 
No  matter  what  beliefs  or  traditions  the  Hebrews 
may  have  had  about  Canaan  as  their  ancestral  coun- 
try or  promised  land,  it  was  clear  they  had  to  fight 
for  every  inch  of  it.  The  dwellers  of  Canaan  cer- 
tainly had  no  mind  to  vacate.  What  complicated  the 
struggle  was  that  just  at  the  time  that  the  Jews 
reached  the  borders  of  Canaan  from  the  East,  an- 
other people  reached  it  from  the  West,  namely,  the 
Philistines.  The  Philistines,  it  would  seem,  were 
remnants  of  the  Cretan  Empire  that  had  been  dis- 
rupted about  that  time,  and  they  were  seeking  to 
establish  themselves  anew.  Repulsed  from  Egypt, 
they  found  their  way  to  the  coast  of  Canaan,  and 
from  that  point  of  vantage  they  engaged  with  the 
Israelites  in  a bitter  struggle  for  the  possession  of 


14 


The  War  and  the  Bible 


the  country.  What  were  the  Jews  to  do?  Were  they 
to  retire  beyond  Jordan,  were  they  to  yield  to  their 
unexpected  rivals,  or  were  they  to  assert  themselves 
against  them  ? This  question  is  answered  in  the  long 
record  of  the  wars  of  Israel  and  the  Philistines  found 
in  the  pages  of  the  Bible. 

Nor  were  the  Philistine  wars  the  last.  Through- 

(out  their  national  period,  the  Jews  had  to  wage  war 
for  the  maintenance  of  their  existence.  It  is  true 
that  the  Bible  is  a history  of  the  Jews  under  the 
aspect  of  the  Divine.  It  tries  to  trace  the  religious 
education  of  the  Jewish  people,  and  the  relation  of 
its  religion  and  education  to  the  rest  of  humanity. 
But  it  is  clear  from  the  Bible  that  there  would  have 
been  no  such  religious  education  and  no  such  people 
without  the  wars  the  Jews  were  called  upon  to 
wage. 

“ We  love  the  hearth,  the  quiet  hills,  the  song, 

The  friendly  gossip  come  from  every  land ; 

And  very  peace  were  now  a nameless  wrong  — 

You  thrust  this  bitter  quarrel  to  our  hand!” 

This  is  the  reason  why  the  men  of  the  Bible  got 
in  the  habit  of  designating  their  wars  as  wars  of 
the  Lord.  Indeed,  the  Bible  refers  to  an  ancient 
work,  lost  to  us,  called  The  Book  of  the  Wars  of 
the  Lord.  Such  a designation  we  can  understand 
only  if  we  realize  that  the  Jews  came  to  regard 
their  wars  as  part  of  their  divine  destiny.  It  has 
been  truly  said  that  many  a part  of  the  Bible  we 


The  Attitude  of  the  Bible  Toward  War  15 


can  understand  the  better  now  because  of  our  own 
experience.  That  has  always  been  true.  The  Bible 
was  the  product  of  profound  spiritual  experience, 
and  only  in  the  light  of  one’s  own  experience  can 
one  understand  it.  Perhaps  that  is  why  many  peo- 
ple, like  Heine,  return  to  it  after  they  have  grown 
wise  in  the  school  of  experience,  though  at  first 
they  spurned  it.  Similarly,  it  is  the  world’s  expe- 
rience of  to-day  that  illumines  many  an  obscure 
chamber  of  Bible  thought.  To-day  we  fight  for 
what?  For  what  we  consider  most  precious  in  life 
— for  our  ideal  treasures.  Whatever  the  original 
motives  of  some  of  the  belligerents,  whatever  the 
secret  diplomatic  treaties  and  purposes  may  have 
been  at  first,  it  is  certain  this  war  would  collapse 
if  we  were  not  convinced  that  we  are  fighting  for 
those  moral  and  spiritual  ends  for  the  sake  of  which 
America  has  entered  the  War. 

“In  the  Gates  of  Death  rejoice! 

We  see  and  hold  the  good  — 

Bear  witness,  Earth,  we  have  made  our  choice 
For  Freedom’s  brotherhood. 

Then  praise  the  Lord  Most  High 
Whose  Strength  hath  saved  us  whole, 

Who  bade  us  choose  that  the  flesh  should  die 
And  not  the  living  Soul ! ” 

It  is  this  conviction  that  throws  light  on  the 
convictions  of  Israel  of  old.  What  did  the  Hebrews 
fight  for?  For  their  ideal  treasures,  for  their  reli- 


1 6 


The  War  and  the  Bible 


gion,  for  their  idea  and  belief  and  proclamation  of 
God  — for  the  domain  of  their  God.  That  was  so 
much  the  firmer  a conviction  with  them,  seeing  that 
in  those  days  the  interest  of  a people  and  its  God 
were  held  to  be  co-extensive,  synonymous.  A peo- 
ple’s country  was  the  country  of  its  God.  A peo- 
ple’s triumph  was  its  God’s  triumph.  Its  failure  was 
the  failure  of  its  God.  The  fate  of  a people  and 
its  God  was  interwoven.  No  wonder  they  thought 
of  gods  being  lined  up  against  each  other  when  two 
peoples  joined  in  battle.  No  wonder  the  poet  of  the 
Song  of  the  Red  Sea  sings  of  the  Lord  as  One  ready 
for  war: 

“ The  Lord  is  ready  for  war, 

The  Lord  is  His  name ! ” 

By  the  light  of  our  own  experience  we  are  enabled 
to  understand  the  attitude  of  our  ancestors,  and 
perhaps  shall  cease  to  sneer  at  them.  We  realize 
that  now  civilizations  are  at  war.  We  realize  that 
God-ideas  are  at  war.  We  don’t  deny  the  German 
Emperor  his  right  to  God,  but  we  fight  against  his 
idea  of  God. 

“ Kaiser,  when  you’d  kneel  in  prayer 
Look  upon  your  hands,  and  there 
Let  the  deep  and  awful  stain 
From  the  blood  of  children  slain 
Burn  your  very  soul  with  shame, 

Till  you  dare  not  breathe  that  Name 
That  now  you  glibly  advertise  — 

God  as  one  of  your  allies ! ” 


i ■ 


The  Attitude  of  the  Bible  Toward  War  17 


Similarly,  the  men  of  Bible  times  regarded  their 
wars  as  God’s  wars,  because  those  wars  were  neces- 
sary for  their  own  preservation  and  for  the  safety 
of  those  spiritual  treasures  of  which  they  were  the 
keepers. 

Thus,  we  are  helped  to  distinguish  the  kind  of 
war  the  Bible  sanctions  and  even  commands.  It  is 
the  war  carried  on  in  order  to  preserve  the  life  of 
the  people  or  to  safeguard  its  spiritual  ideals.  In 
this  light  we  can  understand  the  Canaanite  wars  and 
the  Philistine  wars,  notwithstanding  all  their  bar- 
barous aspects.  In  this  light  can  we  understand  the 
wars  against  Amalek,  with  all  their  vindictiveness. 
But,  on  the  other  hand,  the  Bible  condemns  wars 
carried  on  in  a spirit  of  cruelty  and  aggrandizement, 
whether  waged  by  Israel  or  his  neighbors.  The 
opening  chapters  of  Amos  are  a thunderous  con- 
demnation of  iniquitous  and  barbarous  warfare. 

“Thus  saith  the  Lord: 

For  three  transgressions  of  Damascus, 

Yea,  for  four,  I will  not  reverse  it: 

Because  they  have  threshed  Gilead  with  sledges  of 
iron. 

So  will  I send  a fire  into  the  house  of  Hazael, 

And  it  shall  devour  the  palaces  of  Ben-hadad; 

And  I will  break  the  bar  of  Damascus, 

And  cut  off  the  inhabitant  from  Bikath-aven, 

And  him  that  holdeth  the  scepter  from  Beth-eden; 

And  the  people  of  Aram  shall  go  into  captivity  unto 
Kir, 

Saith  the  Lord. 


i8 


The  War  and  the  Bible 


“Thus  saith  the  Lord: 

For  three  transgressions  of  Tyre, 

Yea,  for  four,  I will  not  reverse  it: 

Because  they  delivered  up  a whole  captivity  to  Edom, 
And  remembered  not  the  brotherly  covenant. 

So  will  I send  a fire  on  the  wall  of  Tyre, 

And  it  shall  devour  the  palaces  thereof. 

“Thus  saith  the  Lord: 

For  three  trangressions  of  the  children  of  Ammon, 
Yea,  for  four,  I will  not  reverse  it: 

Because  they  have  ripped  up  the  women  with  child  at 
Gilead, 

That  they  might  enlarge  their  border. 

So  will  I kindle  a fire  in  the  wall  of  Rabbah, 

And  it  shall  devour  the  palaces  thereof, 

With  shouting  in  the  day  of  battle, 

With  a tempest  in  the  day  of  the  whirlwind; 

And  their  king  shall  go  into  captivity, 

He  and  his  princes  together, 

Saith  the  Lord.” 

One  thing  more  must  be  said  about  the  Bible’s 
attitude  to  war.  It  is  in  regard  to  the  prophetic 
conception  of  the  spiritual  and  ethical  import  of 
war.  Before  the  War,  no  word  was  more  unpopular 
in  certain  circles  than  the  word  punishment.  It 
was  the  bete  noire  of  the  ethical  thinking  of  the 
advanced  school.  Life  had  become  too  soft  to  in- 
clude the  idea  of  punishment.  God  was  supposed  to 
be  a mild  and  indulgent  sort  of  being,  or  they  would 
have  none  of  Him.  The  War  has  changed  things. 
We  realize  now  that  nothing  is  so  real  in  life  as 
punishment  — the  old,  old  truth  — and  that  pun- 


The  Attitude  of  the  Bible  Toward  War  1 9 


ishment  means  not  only  physical  suffering,  but  also 
purification,  ennoblement,  catharsis.  Now,  this  is 
the  view  the  Jewish  Prophets  time  and  again 
take  of  war.  War  is  punishment  — not  only  in  the 
sense  of  causing  physical  suffering  for  spiritual  and 
social  transgressions,  but  also  in  the  sense  of  purifi- 
cation — of  bringing  home  to  men  those  ethical  and 
spiritual  lessons  which  they  seem  unable  to  learn 
by  more  peaceful  methods. 

In  fine,  we  may  sum  up  the  attitude  of  the  Bible 
towards  war  as  follows: 

First,  it  recognizes  the  necessity  of  war  under 
certain  conditions,  though  it  is  dominated  by  the 
ideal  of  peace. 

Secondly,  it  differentiates  between  noble  and  ig- 
noble wars,  commanding  the  former  and  condemn- 
ing the  latter,  and 

Thirdly,  it  affirms  the  value  of  war  as  an  ethical 
corrective  and  a means  of  spiritual  purification. 


THE  ETHICS  OF  WAR  IN  THE  BIBLE 


Criticism  of  the  ethical  standards  of  the  Old  Tes- 
tament is  quite  common.  In  this  regard  the  Old 
Testament  is  held  to  be  inferior  to  the  New.  Cham- 
pions of  the  former  have  often  deemed  it  their  duty 
to  defend  it  against  its  detractors.  But  I have  never 
seen  a defense  of  the  ethics  of  the  Old  Testament 
that  had  touched  one  particular  point.  As  a rule, 
people  ignore  this  important  fact:  that  there  is  a 
vast  difference  between  the  ethics  of  peace  and  the 
ethics  of  war  in  the  Old  Testament.  As  for  the 
ethics  of  peace,  few  will  deny  that  it  reaches  its 
acme  in  the  Old  Testament.  Righteousness  is  the 
master-word  of  its  pages.  It  tests  all  life  by  the 
rule  of  Righteousness.  Though  in  some  details  we 
may  have  to  revise  or  to  amplify  Old  Testament 
conceptions,  we  must  nevertheless  admit  that  every 
page,  every  line,  of  it  is  impregnated  with  the  spirit 
of  righteousness.  The  ethics  of  peace  taught  by  the 
lawgivers  and  the  prophets  of  Israel  has  never  been 
surpassed. 

But  it  is  different  when  we  come  to  the  ethics  of 
war.  The  New  Testament  in  this  regard  has  the 
advantage  over  the  Old  in  that  it  does  not  deal  with 
the  subject  of  war.  This  it  does  not  do  because  its 
attitude  to  war  is  other  than  that  of  the  Old  Tes- 
20 


The  Ethics  of  War  in  the  Bible 


21 


tament.  It  condemns  neither  war  nor  the  soldier’s 
occupation.  On  the  contrary,  the  good  soldier’s  con- 
duct is  commended  by  no  less  a man  than  St.  Paul 
as  an  exemplar  of  the  spiritual  life.  “ Thou  there- 
fore endure  hardship,”  he  writes  to  Timothy,  “ as 
a good  soldier  of  Jesus  Christ.  No  soldier  on  serv- 
ice entangleth  himself  in  the  affairs  of  this  life,  that 
he  may  please  him  who  enrolled  him  as  a soldier.” 
In  the  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians,  St.  Paul  employs 
martial  imagery  for  the  depiction  of  the  religious 
life. 

“ Put  on  the  whole  armour  of  God,  that  ye  may  be 
able  to  stand  against  the  wiles  of  the  devil.  For  our 
wrestling  is  not  against  flesh  and  blood,  but  against  the 
principalities,  against  the  powers,  against  the  world- 
rulers  of  this  darkness,  against  the  spiritual  hosts  of 
wickedness  in  the  heavenly  places.  Wherefore  take  up 
the  whole  armour  of  God,  that  ye  may  be  able  to  with- 
stand in  the  evil  day,  and,  having  done  all  to  stand. 
Stand  therefore,  having  girded  your  loins  with  truth,  and 
having  put  on  the  breastplate  of  righteousness,  and  hav- 
ing shod  your  feet  with  the  preparation  of  the  gospel  of 
peace;  withal  taking  up  the  shield  of  faith,  wherewith 
ye  shall  be  able  to  quench  all  the  fiery  darts  of  the  evil 
one.  And  take  the  helmet  of  salvation,  and  the  sword  of 
the  Spirit,  which  is  the  word  of  God.’ 

The  New  Testament,  thus,  does  not  seem  to  spurn 
war  as  such.  It  does  not  deal  with  the  subject  of 
war,  however,  for  a good  reason.  The  New  Testa- 
ment is  almost  entirely  a personal  book,  rather  than 
a national.  Its  chief  theme  is  personal  salvation,  and 


22 


The  War  and  the  Bible 


the  ordering  of  one’s  own  spiritual  life.  The  Old 
Testament,  on  the  other  hand,  is  preeminently  a na- 
tional book,  and  much  of  it  is  devoted  to  the  story 
of  the  growth  of  the  nation,  with  all  its  wanderings 
and  wars.  Now,  when  a comparison  is  made  be- 
tween the  ethics  of  the  Old  Testament  and  of  the 
New,  this  is  what  usually  happens.  The  different 
character  of  the  two  works  is  overlooked  and  the 
best  parts  of  the  New  Testament  are  compared  with 
the  worst  parts  of  the  Old.  We  are  told  of  the 
spirit  of  love  that  prevails  in  the  New  Testament, 
and  of  the  hate  and  hostility  that  are  found  in  parts 
of  the  Old,  without  being  reminded  of  the  real 
reason  of  the  disparity.  This  is  due  not  to  a differ- 
ence between  the  ethical  standards  of  the  two  works, 
but  rather  to  the  difference  between  the  ethics  of 
peace  and  the  ethics  of  war  among  the  people  of 
the  Bible. 

The  ethical  conduct  of  war  is,  in  a way,  a meas- 
ure of  civilization.  Of  course,  there  are  those  who 
hold  that  all  warfare  is  uncivilized,  that  it  is  but 
a relic  of  barbarism,  and  whether  there  is  more  or 
less  ethics  connected  with  it  is  a sheer  accident. 
Time  was  when  people  held  that  war  suspended 
the  reign  of  law,  and  that  whatever  was  done  in 
the  course  of  it,  was  fair.  To  this  very  day  the 
necessity  of  war  prompts  the  doing  of  things  which 
would  not  be  tolerated  at  any  other  time.  That 
the  conduct  of  war,  also,  is  subject  to  ethical  law, 
is  a realization  that  has  come  to  humanity  but  by 


The  Ethics  of  War  in  the  Bible 


23 


degrees.  Even  slower  has  been  the  improvement 
of  the  standards  of  war-time  ethics.  To-day  it  is 
commonly  accepted,  however,  that,  though  war  be 
a relic  of  savagery,  those  that  engage  in  it  must  not 
relapse  into  savagery,  and  are  still  bound  by  the 
ethical  law.  The  higher  the  ethics  of  a nation  in 
war,  the  higher  its  civilization.  Its  progress  is  cer- 
tified by  its  war-time  ethics  even  more  than  by  its 
ethics  of  peace.  Nothing  has  hurt  the  Germans  so 
much,  nor  so  served  to  array  the  world  against 
them,  as  the  demonstration  that  their  martial  moral- 
ity was  so  low,  and  so  far  beneath  the  standards  of 
the  Allies. 

What  w^as,  we  may  ask,  the  war  ethics  of  the 
Bible?  The  only  true  answer,  much  as  we  may  re- 
gret it,  is  that,  judged  from  the  modern  standpoint, 
it  was  not  very  high.  As  we  read  the  account  of  how 
the  Israelites  dealt  with  their  enemies,  and  the  laws 
given  them  for  the  conduct  of  war,  we  cannot  help 
feeling  that  they  were  severe  and  cruel  toward  their 
national  foes,  and  that  their  attitude  was  untem- 
pered by  any  sense  of  the  common  humanity  of  man. 
The  book  of  Deuteronomy,  for  example,  is  com- 
monly considered  a most  humane  interpretation  of 
the  Hebrew  law.  It  is  full  of  the  spirit  of  kindness 
and  humanity.  All  its  ordinances  and  observances 
are  colored  by  humane  sentiment.  Yet,  when  it 
comes  to  the  discussion  of  war,  what  does  it  con- 
tain? Humane  provisions  for  its  own  people:  no 
man  shall  be  allowed  to  join  in  a war  who  has  good 


24 


The  War  and  the  Bible 


reason  for  staying  out;  if  a man  has  built  a new 
house,  and  not  dedicated  it  — or  if  a man  has 
planted  a new  vineyard,  and  not  yet  eaten  its  first- 
fruits — or  if  he  has  just  taken  a wife  — all  such 
are  exempt  from  war,  as  are  those  who  are  faint  of 
heart.  Certainly  a generous  attitude  on  the  part  of 
the  law  toward  its  own.  But  how  about  the  foe? 
First,  if  you  go  to  war  upon  a city,  proclaim  peace. 
If  peace  is  accepted,  however,  all  the  inhabitants 
become  your  tributaries  and  vassals.  If  peace  is  re- 
jected, the  city  shall  be  besieged,  and  if  it  fall,  all 
the  male  inhabitants  shall  be  slain,  while  the  women, 
the  little  ones,  and  the  cattle,  and  all  that  is  in  the 
city,  all  the  spoil  thereof,  shall  belong  to  the  con- 
queror : “ thou  shalt  eat  the  spoil  of  thine  enemies, 
which  the  Lord  thy  God  hath  given  thee ! ” These 
rules  are  laid  down  in  regard  to  far-off  cities ; more 
severe  even  are  they  for  near-by  places,  whose  evil 
customs  are  likely  to  corrupt  the  conquerors. 

It  is  impossible  to  read  these  injunctions  without 
perceiving  that  they  do  not  reach  up  to  a very  high 
ethical  standard.  Our  modern  sense  of  human  kin- 
ship is  shocked  by  their  uncompromising  nature. 
Worse  still,  we  find  these  injunctions  in  the  most 
humane  and  most  ethical  parts  of  the  Bible.  We 
find  them  in  the  book  of  Deuteronomy,  which  is 
generally  recognized  as  steeped  in  the  humane  and 
ethical  spirit  of  the  Prophets.  Indeed,  some  of  the 
Prophets  themselves  are  among  the  most  uncom- 
promising champions  of  martial  severity.  Samuel 


The  Ethics  of  War  in  the  Bible  25 

rebukes  Saul  for  being  too  tender  toward  Agag. 
When  Ahab  makes  peace  with  Ben-hadad,  king  of 
Damascus,  who  had  attacked  Israel,  he  is  rebuked 
by  a prophet  for  letting  the  royal  foe  go  un- 
scathed, though  the  treaty  was  honorable  and  profit- 
able to  Israel.  “ Thus  saith  the  Lord:  Because  thou 
hast  let  go  out  of  thy  hand  the  man  whom  I had 
devoted  to  destruction,  therefore  thy  life  shall  go 
for  his  life,  and  thy  people  for  his  people!  ” When 
Elisha  predicts  the  victory  of  Israel  over  Moab,  he 
adds  for  the  guidance  of  his  people: 

“And  ye  shall  smite  every  fortified  city,  and  every 
choice  city,  and  shall  fell  every  good  tree,  and  stop  all 
fountains  of  water,  and  mar  every  good  piece  of  land 
with  stones.” 

And  the  people  are  said  to  have  carried  the  instruc- 
tions out  to  the  letter. 

It  is  true  that  when  we  compare  the  conduct  of 
the  Israelites  with  those  of  their  contemporaries,  we 
realize  that  they  were  not  as  bad  as  the  others. 
Their  kings  had  a reputation  for  kindness  and  gen- 
erosity, upon  which  the  servants  of  Ben-hadad  re- 
lied when  they  saw  their  defeat. 

“And  his  servants  said  unto  him:  ‘Behold  now,  we 
have  heard  that  the  kings  of  the  house,  of  Israel  are 
merciful  kings;  let  us,  we  pray  thee,  put  sackcloth  on  our 
loins,  and  ropes  upon  our  heads,  and  go  out  to  the  king 
of  Israel ; peradventure  he  will  save  thy  life.’  ” 


2 6 


The  War  and  the  Bible 


Compared  to  the  despots  of  Egypt  and  Assyria,  the 
kings  of  Israel  were  very  mild.  But  this  is  not  say- 
ing much. 

Of  course,  we  can  explain  this  severity.  First, 
there  were  the  conditions  of  the  age.  That  the  He- 
brews started  as  a peaceable  people,  seems  clear  from 
all  their  early  records,  as  well  as  from  their  domi- 
nant ideal.  But  if  they  were  to  survive  at  all,  they 
had  to  wage  war,  and  in  doing  so  they  gradually 
adopted  the  methods  and  standards  of  their  enemies, 
just  as  in  the  present  war  the  opponents  learn  from 
one  another,  in  many  respects.  When  the  Israelites 
came  to  Canaan,  they  knew  little  about  the  use  of 
iron  weapons.  Chariots  of  iron,  such  as  the  Canaan- 
ites  possessed,  amazed  and  baffled  them.  They  found 
it  hard  to  cope  with  them.  The  tribe  of  Joseph,  for 
instance,  complained  to  Joshua  of  the  small  portion 
allotted  to  it.  “ Why  hast  thou  given  me,”  they 
demanded,  “ but  one  lot  and  one  part  for  an  in- 
heritance, seeing  I am  a great  people,  forasmuch  as 
the  Lord  hath  blessed  us  thus?  ” 

“And  Joshua  said  unto  them:  ‘If  thou  be  a great 
people,  get  thee  up  to  the  forest,  and  cut  down  for  thy- 
self there  in  the  land  of  the  Perizzites  and  of  the 
Rephaim;  since  the  hill-country  of  Ephraim  is  too  nar- 
row for  thee.’  And  the  children  of  Joseph  said:  ‘The 
hill-country  will  not  be  enough  for  us;  and  all  the 
Canaanites  that  dwell  in  the  land  of  the  valley  have 
chariots  of  iron,  both  they  who  are  in  Beth-shean  and 
its  towns,  and  they  who  are  in  the  valley  of  Jezreel.’ 
And  Joseph  spoke  unto  the  house  of  Joseph,  even  to 


The  Ethics  of  War  in  the  Bible 


27 


Ephraim  and  to  Manasseh,  saying:  ‘Thou  art  a great 
people,  and  hast  great  power;  thou  shalt  not  have  one 
lot  only.’  ” 

When  the  several  Canaanite  kings  banded  together 
to  fight  against  Israel  at  the  waters  of  Merom,  they 
had  a vast  army  “ with  horses  and  chariots  very 
many.  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Joshua:  ‘Be  not 
afraid  because  of  them;  for  to-morrow  at  this  time 
will  I deliver  them  up  all  slain  before  Israel;  thou 
shalt  hough  their  horses,  and  burn  their  chariots 
with  fire.’  ” Judah,  also,  was  checked  by  chariots. 

“And  the  Lord  was  with  Judah;  and  he  drove  out 
the  inhabitants  of  the  hill-country;  for  he  could  not  drive 
out  the  inhabitants  of  the  valley,  because  they  had  char- 
iots of  iron.” 

Again,  Sisera  appeared  most  formidable  to  the  Israel- 
ites of  Deborah’s  time  because  of  the  many  chariots 
of  iron  he  mustered  against  them.  “ And  the  chil- 
dren of  Israel  cried  unto  the  Lord:  for  he  had 
nine  hundred  chariots  of  iron.”  Also,  the  Hebrews, 
in  the  early  days  of  the  occupation  of  Canaan,  pos- 
sessed but  few  weapons.  They  had  no  smiths  of  their 
own,  and  swords  and  spears  were  rare. 

“ Now  there  was  no  smith  found  throughout  all  the 
land  of  Israel;  for  the  Philistines  said:  ‘Lest  the  He- 
brews make  them  swords  or  spears;  but  all  the  Israel- 
ites went  down  to  the  Philistines,  to  sharpen  every  man 
his  plowshare,  and  his  coulter,  and  his  ax,  and  his  mat- 
tock. And  the  price  of  the  filing  was  a pirn  for  the 


28 


The  War  and  the  Bible 


mattocks,  and  for  the  coulters,  and  for  the  forks  with 
three  teeth,  and  for  the  axes;  and  to  set  the  goads.  So 
it  came  to  pass  in  the  day  of  battle,  that  there  was 
neither  sword  nor  spear  found  in  the  hand  of  any  of 
the  people  that  were  with  Saul  and  Jonathan;  but  with 
Saul  and  with  Jonathan  his  son  was  there  found.” 

In  the  course  of  time,  however,  the  Israelites  adopted 
the  armor  of  their  Canaanite  predecessors  and  Phil- 
istine rivals,  just  as  at  present  the  foe’s  weapons 
force  us  to  improve  his  instruction.  Similarly,  the 
Israelites,  though  they  were  known  as  relatively 
merciful,  employed  the  contemporary  methods  of 
treating  a vanquished  enemy.  When  the  men  of 
Judah  mutilated  the  king  of  Bezek,  he  took  it  philo- 
sophically. It  was  part  of  the  fortune  of  war,  he 
mused. 

“And  Adoni-bezek  said:  ‘Threescore  and  ten  kings, 
having  their  thumbs  and  their  great  toes  cut  ofF,  gath- 
ered food  under  my  table;  as  I have  done,  so  God  hath 
requited  me.” 

Next,  we  must  not  ignore  the  sense  of  injury 
which  served  to  embitter  Israel’s  relations  to  some 
of  his  foes  and  which  left  its  impress  on  his  mar- 
tial ethics.  There  is  a doctrine  of  revanche  in  the 
Bible,  as  there  has  been  in  modern  France.  The 
War  cannot  end,  we  say,  without  the  wrong  done 
to  France  in  Alsace-Lorraine  being  righted.  Our 
sympathy  with  France  helps  us  to  understand  the 
revanche  of  ancient  Israel.  In  regard  to  the  Ama- 
lekites,  Israel  continually  felt  the  baseness  of  their 


The  Ethics  of  War  in  the  Bible 


29 


attack  upon  him  in  the  early  days  of  the  wilderness, 
when  he  was  unprepared  and  feeble.  Its  recollec- 
tion formed  a ceaseless  source  of  bitter  enmity  and 
desire  for  revenge. 

“ Remember  what  Amalek  did  unto  thee  by  the  way  as 
ye  came  forth  out  of  Egypt;  how  he  met  thee  by  the  way, 
and  smote  the  hindmost  of  thee,  all  that  were  enfeebled 
in  thy  rear,  when  thou  wast  faint  and  weary;  and  he 
feared  not  God.  Therefore  it  shall  be,  when  the  Lord 
thy  God  hath  given  thee  rest  from  all  thine  enemies  round 
about,  in  the  land  which  the  Lord  thy  God  giveth  thee 
for  an  inheritance  to  possess  it,  that  thou  shalt  blot  out 
the  remembrance  of  Amalek  from  under  heaven;  thou 
shalt  not  forget ! ” 

Perhaps  the  book  of  Esther,  with  its  Amalekite  vil- 
lain, Haman,  was  the  product  partly  of  this  ancient 
grievance.  The  subsequent  injuries  inflicted  upon 
Israel  by  his  conquerors  added  to  his  resentment. 
He  felt  sure  that  the  day  of  recompense  must  come. 
His  wrongs  must  be  righted  before  Righteousness 
came  to  its  own.  The  day  of  universal  judgment 
became  part  of  his  messianic  hope,  and  that  day 
would  be  preceded  by  a tremendous  battle  in  which 
the  forces  of  good  would  triumph  over  the  forces 
of  evil.  It  is  the  Armageddon  of  the  Apocalypse. 
The  experience  of  to-day  helps  us  to  understand  the 
yearning  for  vindication  and  adjustment  in  the 
Bible. 

Finally,  we  must  consider  the  religious  concep- 
tions of  the  times.  It  is  sad  to  contemplate  that  one 


30 


The  War  and  the  Bible 


important  reason  for  severity  towards  his  enemies 
was  connected  with  the  moral  welfare  and  the  re- 
ligious future  of  Israel.  There  was  always  the  dread 
of  religious  degradation  and  ethical  corruption. 
Nor  was  this  fear  unfounded.  Whenever  the  Israel- 
ites mingled  with  the  Canaanites,  they  were  affected 
by  the  idolatry  and  immorality  of  the  latter.  The 
more  we  learn,  with  the  aid  of  archaeology,  con- 
cerning the  civilization  of  the  Canaanites,  the  more 
we  realize  what  a menace  their  religious  concepts 
and  customs  were  to  the  Israelites.  Their  religion 
was  consecrated  immorality.  “ The  Canaanite  sanc- 
tuaries,” it  has  been  said,  “ were  practically  gigantic 
brothels,  legalized  by  the  sanctions  of  religion.” 
This  is  why  the  Prophets  were  so  stern  in  their  op- 
position to  the  Canaanites,  and  why  they  designated 
as  whoredom  any  imitation  of  their  ways.  It  seemed 
essential  to  the  establishment  of  Israel’s  religion 
that  their  enemies  be  uprooted. 

“ When  the  Lord  thy  God  shall  bring  thee  into  the 
land  whither  thou  goest  to  possess  it,  and  shall  cast  out 
many  nations  before  thee,  the  Hittite,  and  the  Girgashiie, 
and  the  Amorite,  and  the  Canaanite,  and  the  Perizzite, 
and  the  Hivite,  and  the  Jebusite,  seven  nations  greater 
and  mightier  than  thou ; and  when  the  Lord  thy  God 
shall  deliver  them  up  before  thee,  and  thou  shalt  smite 
them;  then  thou  shalt  utterly  destroy  them;  thou  shalt 
make  no  covenant  with  them,  nor  show  mercy  unto  them; 
neither  shalt  thou  make  marriages  with  them:  thy  daugh- 
ter thou  shalt  not  give  unto  his  son,  nor  his  daughter 
shalt  thou  take  unto  thy  son.  For  he  will  turn  away  thy 


The  Ethics  of  War  in  the  Bible 


31 


son  from  following  Me,  that  they  may  serve  other  gods; 
so  will  the  anger  of  the  Lord  be  kindled  against  you,  and 
He  will  destroy  thee  quickly.  But  thus  shall  ye  deal  with 
them:  ye  shall  break  down  their  altars,  and  dash  in  pieces 
their  pillars,  and  hew  down  their  Asherim,  and  burn 
their  graven  images  with  fire.  For  thou  art  a holy  people 
unto  the  Lord  thy  God:  the  Lord  thy  God  hath  chosen 
thee  to  be  His  own  treasure,  out  of  all  peoples  that  are 
upon  the  face  of  the  earth.” 

“ Defile  not  ye  yourselves  in  any  of  these  things ; for 
in  all  these  the  nations  are  defiled,  which  I cast  out  from 
before  you.  And  the  land  was  defiled,  therefore  I did 
visit  the  iniquity  thereof  upon  it,  and  the  land  vomited 
out  her  inhabitants.  Ye  therefore  shall  keep  My  statutes 
and  Mine  ordinances,  and  shall  not  do  any  of  these  abom- 
inations; neither  the  home-born  nor  the  stranger  that 
sojourneth  among  you  — for  all  these  abominations  have 
the  men  of  the  land  done,  that  were  before  you,  and  the 
land  is  defiled  — that  the  land  vomit  not  you  out  also, 
when  ye  defile  it,  as  it  vomited  out  the  nation  that  was 
before  you.  For  whosoever  shall  do  any  of  these  abom- 
inations, even  the  souls  that  do  them  shall  be  cut  off  from 
among  their  people.  Therefore  shall  ye  keep  My  charge, 
that  ye  do  not  any  of  these  abominable  customs,  which 
were  done  before  you,  and  that  ye  defile  not  yourselves 
therein:  I am  the  Lord  your  God.” 

In  order  that  Israel  might  survive  as  a spiritual 
people,  hardness  was  necessary.  It  throws  light  on 
many  a tragic  incident  in  the  progress  of  human 
civilization. 

It  is  good  to  think  that  we  have  advanced  in  our 
conception  of  the  ethics  of  war.  Many  influences 
have  cooperated  to  bring  this  about.  Has  the  Bible 
done  nothing  toward  this  advance?  I believe  it  has 


32 


The  War  and  the  Bible 


done  much.  What  has  created  our  higher  concep- 
tion of  conduct  in  time  of  war?  Our  ethics  of 
peace.  The  higher  the  ideal  of  Righteousness  rose  in 
Israel,  and  the  more  comprehensive  it  grew,  the 
clearer  was  the  protest  against  social  cruelty  and 
bellicose  barbarity.  Amos  raised  his  voice  in  behalf 
of  Righteousness:  he  was,  also,  the  prophet  who  ar- 
raigned the  nations  for  their  cruelty  to  one  another 
in  time  of  war.  Damascus,  Philistia,  Tyre,  Edom, 
and  so  forth,  each  of  them  was  guilty: 

“ Because  he  did  pursue  his  brother  with  the  sword, 
And  did  cast  off  all  pity, 

And  his  anger  did  tear  perpetually, 

And  he  kept  his  wrath  for  ever.” 

As  for  ourselves,  we  realize  more  and  more  that 
human  life  is  one,  and  that  we  cannot  altogether 
divest  ourselves  of  our  normal  morality  because  we 
are  at  war.  Our  peace  ethics  is  influencing  our  war 
ethics.  Our  peace  ethics,  however,  is  that  of  the 
Bible.  The  ideal  of  Righteousness  for  which  the 
Bible  stands,  and  which  in  normal  times  applies  to 
all  alike,  was  bound  in  the  course  of  time  to  ex- 
tend its  domain  and  to  affect  our  ideas  concerning  the 
conduct  of  war.  Even  in  war-time  the  law  of 
Righteousness  abides.  It  bids  us  cling  to  what  is 
honorable,  true,  just,  and  humane,  no  matter  what 
the  heathen  might  do  who  have  not  the  Law,  and 
thus  to  help  the  world  toward  the  day  when  the 


The  Ethics  of  War  in  the  Bible  33 

universal  love  of  Righteousness  shall  have  made  an 
end  of  War. 

“Since  war  must  cease  not,  let  us  welcome  war; 

Her  onset  seek  we  never  to  evade. 

But  first  Bellona  shall  be  servant  made, 

Robbed  of  her  bloody  throne,  suffered  no  more 
To  feast  on  life,  but  death;  and  turned  her  blade 
Against  the  accursed  shadows  we  abhor, 

That  still  eclipse  humanity  full  sore, 

Leaving  us  shamed  and  brutish  and  afraid. 

For  love,  not  hate  strive  on;  for  love  of  man 
Assail  his  ignorance  and  lift  his  heart 
Higher  than  all  the  sorrows  of  his  span 
Can  reach  or  quell;  be  it  your  soldier  part 
To  purify  and  gladden  and  reclaim 
In  human  Reason’s  ever  sacred  name.” 


SOME  GREAT  WARS  OF  THE  BIBLE 


Any  one  who  thinks  that  the  Jews  were  not  a fight- 
ing people,  has  never  read  the  Bible.  From  the  read- 
ing of  the  latter  one  must  come  away  with  the  feel- 
ing that  ancient  Israel  was  one  of  the  most  war- 
like peoples  of  history.  Throughout  the  period  trav- 
ersed by  the  Bible,  the  Israelites  found  themselves 
forced  to  face  war,  and  there  is  no  sign  that  they 
shrank  from  it.  The  object  of  the  Bible,  it  is  true, 
is  not  to  write  a history  of  the  wars  of  Israel.  Its 
aim  is  to  trace  the  history  of  Israel’s  divine  educa- 
tion — of  his  education  in  Religion.  The  Bible  is 
a book  of  Religion.  But  the  account  of  Israel’s  di- 
vine education  is  inseparable  from  the  history  of 
the  wars  of  Israel.  One  thing  is  made  clear  by  the 
Bible,  namely,  that  insofar  as  the  Jews  came  to  play 
a part  in  the  religious  and  spiritual  history  of  man- 
kind, they  did  so  through  a long  series  of  wars. 

Indeed,  it  is  noteworthy  that  God  is  time  and 
again  represented  in  the  Bible  as  the  teacher  of 
warfare.  It  has  frequently  been  pointed  out  — and 
not  always  with  approval  — that  the  ancient  He- 
brews regarded  their  God  as  a god  of  war.  They 
thought  of  Him,  we  are  told,  as  Lord  of  hosts,  as 
“ a man  of  war,”  as  captain  of  their  army.  This 


34 


Some  Great  Wars  of  the. Bible  35 

presentation  of  Hebrew  thought  is  not  quite  ac- 
curate; when  the  prophet  speaks  of  the  Lord  of 
Hosts  he  has  in  mind  the  hosts  of  Creation  and  not 
the  armies  of  Israel,  he  thinks  of  God  as  master 
of  the  myriads  of  the  Universe,  while  the  phrase 
“ God  is  a man  of  war  ” is  probably  a conventional 
mistranslation  of  a Hebrew  idiom  which  means 
“ God  is  mighty  in  war  ” or  “ ready  for  war.”  But 
insofar  as  it  is  true,  the  ideas  of  the  Hebrews  did 
not  differ  from  those  of  their  neighbors  and  con- 
temporaries. They  all  made  the  same  identification 
of  a people  with  its  God.  It  was  rooted  in  the 
thought  of  the  time.  It  was  expressed  in  the  beliefs 
and  in  the  poetry  of  the  times.  It  is  the  Prophets 
who  first  taught  the  contrary  doctrine,  that  God 
is  greater  than  His  people,  and  that  at  times  the 
defeat  of  the  people  may  mean  the  triumph  of  God. 
But  that  was  a revolutionary  doctrine.  In  war,  as 
in  peace,  God  and  people  are  interrelated.  In  fact, 
to  go  to  war,  in  the  biblical  expression,  was  “ to 
sanctify  war.”  It  was  a holy  undertaking.  The  in- 
itial steps  were  taken  by  priests  and  prophets.  The 
shields  were  anointed  by  the  priests.  Prophets  were 
consulted  as  to  God’s  approval  or  disapproval.  In 
earliest  times,  the  Ark  was  carried  into  the  battle, 
as  a visible  token  of  the  Divine  Presence  and  Lead- 
ership. The  capture  of  the  Ark  was  a calamity,  not 
merely  as  a symbol  of  defeat,  but  also  in  itself,  as 
removal  of  the  Divine  Presence.  It  is  the  taking  of 
the  ark  by  the  Philistines  that  causes  the  greatest 


36 


The  War  and  the  Bible 


shock  to  Eli  and  to  his  daughter-in-law:  “The 
glory  is  departed  from  Israel;  for  the  Ark  of  God 
is  taken ! ” 

“ And  the  Philistines  put  themselves  in  array  against 
Israel ; and  when  the  battle  was  spread,  Israel  was  smit- 
ten before  the  Philistines;  and  they  slew  of  the  army  in 
the  field  about  four  thousand  men.  And  when  the  peo- 
ple were  come  into  the  camp,  the  elders  of  Israel  said: 
‘ Wherefore  hath  the  Lord  smitten  us  to-day  before  the 
Philistines?  Let  us  fetch  the  ark  of  the  covenant  of  the 
Lord  out  of  Shiloh  unto  us,  that  He  may  come  among  us, 
and  save  us  out  of  the  hand  of  our  enemies.’  And  when 
the  ark  of  the  covenant  of  the  Lord  came  into  the  camp, 
all  Israel  shouted  with  a great  shout,  so  that  the  earth 
rang.  And  when  the  Philistines  heard  the  noise  of  the 
shout,  they  said : ‘ What  meaneth  the  noise  of  this  great 
shout  in  the  camp  of  the  Hebrews?’  And  they  knew  that 
the  ark  of  the  Lord  was  come  into  the  camp.  And  the 
Philistines  were  afraid,  for  they  said : ‘ God  is  come  into 
the  camp.’  And  they  said:  ‘Woe  unto  us!  for  there  was 
not  such  a thing  yesterday  and  the  day  before.  Woe  unto 
us!  who  shall  deliver  us  out  of  the  hand  of  these  mighty 
gods?  these  are  the  gods  that  smote  the  Egyptians  with 
all  manner  of  plagues  and  in  the  wilderness.  Be  strong, 
and  quit  yourselves  like  men,  O ye  Philistines,  that  ye  be 
not  servants  unto  the  Hebrews,  as  they  have  been  to  you; 
quit  yourselves  like  men  and  fight.’  And  the  Philistines 
fought,  and  Israel  was  smitten,  and  they  fled  every  man 
to  his  tent;  and  there  was  a very  great  slaughter;  for 
there  fell  of  Israel  thirty  thousand  footmen.  And  the  ark 
of  God  was  taken;  and  the  two  sons  of  Eli,  Hophni,  and 
Phinehas,  were  slain.” 

“And  there  ran  a man  of  Benjamin  out  of  the  army, 
and  came  to  Shiloh  the  same  day  with  his  clothes  rent, 
and  with  earth  upon  his  head.  And  the  man  said  unto 


Some  Great  Wars  of  the. Bible 


37 


Eli:  ‘I  am  he  that  came  out  of  the  army,  and  I fled  to- 
day out  of  the  army.’  And  he  said:  ‘How  went  the  mat- 
ter, my  son  ? ’ And  he  that  brought  the  tidings  answered 
and  said:  ‘Israel  is  fled  before  the  Philistines,  and  there 
hath  been  also  a great  slaughter  among  the  people,  and 
thy  two  sons  also,  Hophni  and  Phinehas,  are  dead,  and 
the  ark  of  God  is  taken.’  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  he 
made  mention  of  the  ark  of  God,  that  he  fell  from  off 
his  seat  backward  by  the  side  of  the  gate,  and  his  neck 
broke,  and  he  died;  for  he  was  an  old  man,  and  heavy.” 

Besides,  the  Bible  represents  God  as  the  teacher 
of  war.  When  the  Israelites  come  out  of  Egypt, 
they  are  not  permitted  to  take  a direct  route  to 
Canaan,  up  the  coast  of  the  Mediterranean,  by  way 
of  the  land  of  the  Philistines,  for  fear  they  might 
face  war,  and  retreat;  they  are  led  in  a roundabout 
way,  in  order  that  they  might  learn  war  and  be 
fitted  for  the  tasks  of  the  future.  And  later  on,  in 
some  of  the  Psalms  ascribed  to  David,  the  poet 
praises  the  Lord  for  teaching  him  the  art  of  war. 

“ Blessed  be  the  Lord  my  Rock, 

Who  traineth  my  hands  for  war, 

And  my  fingers  for  battle; 

My  lovingkindness,  and  my  fortress, 

My  high  tower  and  my  deliverer; 

My  shield,  and  He  in  whom  I take  refuge; 

Who  subdueth  my  people  under  me ! ” 

And  again: 

“As  for  God,  His  way  is  perfect; 

The  word  of  the  Lord  is  tried; 

He  is  a shield  unto  all  them  that  take  refuge  in  Him. 


38 


The  War  and  the  Bible 


“For  who  is  God,  save  the  Lord? 

And  who  is  a rock,  except  our  God? 

The  God  that  girdeth  me  with  strength, 

And  maketh  my  way  straight; 

Who  traineth  my  hands  for  war, 

So  that  mine  arms  do  bend  a bow  of  brass. 

Thou  hast  also  given  me  Thy  shield  of  salvation, 

And  Thy  right  hand  hath  holden  me  up; 

And  Thy  condescension  hath  made  me  great. 

Thou  hast  enlarged  my  steps  under  me, 

And  my  feet  have  not  slipped. 

“I  have  pursued  mine  enemies,  and  overtaken  them; 
Neither  did  I turn  back  till  they  were  consumed. 

For  Thou  hast  girded  me  with  strength  unto  the  battle; 
Thou  hast  subdued  under  me  those  that  rose  up  against 
me. 

Thou  hast  also  made  mine  enemies  turn  their  backs 
unto  me, 

And  I did  cut  off  them  that  hate  me.” 

Indeed,  we  do  not  often  realize  the  extent  to 
which  our  own  religious  vocabulary  has  been  col- 
ored by  the  warlike  character  of  Israel’s  history  and 
by  the  military  metaphors  of  the  Hebrew  poets. 

“ Strive,  O Lord,  with  them  that  strive  with  me ; 

Fight  against  them  that  fight  against  me. 

Take  hold  of  shield  and  buckler, 

And  rise  up  to  my  help. 

Draw  out  also  the  spear,  and  the  battle-axe,  against 
them  that  pursue  me; 

Say  unto  my  soul : ‘ I am  thy  salvation.’  ” 

Now,  this  is  not  said  for  the  purpose  of  glorify- 
ing war,  but  rather  for  the  sake  of  calling  attention 


Some  Great  Wars  of  the. Bible 


39 


to  two  facts.  First,  the  Hebrews  were  a warlike 
people,  and  they  had  to  wage  war  in  order  to  play 
any  part  whatever  in  history;  and,  secondly,  the 
Bible  views  the  training  of  Israel  to  warfare  as  one 
of  the  Divine  tasks  and  benefits.  Israel’s  part  would 
have  been  impossible,  without  mastery  of  the  cour- 
age and  the  capacity  for  war.  This  does  not  answer 
the  question  why  war  should  have  formed,  or  should 
now  form,  part  of  the  Divine  economy.  No  doubt 
this  world  would  be  a more  pleasant  place  and  his- 
tory would  be  more  edifying  reading  without  war- 
fare. But  the  facts  of  life  and  of  history  cannot  be 
ignored. 

“The  naked  earth  is  warm  with  Spring, 

And  with  green  grass  and  bursting  trees 
Leans  to  the  sun’s  gaze  glorying, 

And  quivers  in  the  sunny  breeze; 

And  Life  is  Color  and  Warmth  and  Light, 

And  a striving  evermore  for  these; 

And  he  is  dead  who  will  not  fight; 

And  who  dies  fighting  has  increase.” 

I have  stated  before  that  there  is  good  ground 
for  affirming  that  the  Hebrews  began  as  a peace- 
able people.  We  have  an  illustration  — or  typifica- 
tion  — in  the  story  of  Abraham.  When  he  found 
himself  in  Canaan  side  by  side  with  Lot,  and  trou- 
ble arose  among  their  servants,  he  was  the  one  who 
suggested  that  they  go  apart,  so  as  to  avoid  strife. 
“ Let  there  be  no  strife,  I pray  thee,”  he  said,  “ be- 
tween me  and  thee,  and  between  my  herdmen  and 


40 


The  War  and  the  Bible 


thy  herdmen ; for  we  are  men  and  brothers ! Is  not 
the  whole  land  before  thee?  separate  thyself,  I pray 
thee,  from  me;  if  thou  wilt  take  the  left  hand,  then 
I will  go  to  the  right;  or  if  thou  take  the  right 
hand,  then  I will  go  to  the  left.”  Abraham  was  the 
first  advocate  of  the  settlement  of  disputes  by 
friendly  understanding  and  agreement.  But  did 
Abraham  stand  for  peace  at  any  price?  By  no  means. 
This  we  know  from  the  well-known  story  of  the 
attack  of  several  kings,  under  the  leadership  of 
Chedorlaomer  and  Amraphel  (Hamurapi),  upon 
Bera  king  of  Sodom  and  his  allies.  Bera  was  de- 
feated, and  among  the  captives  carried  away  by  the 
Babylonian  invaders  was  Lot  and  his  household.  It 
was  Abraham  and  his  little  army  of  three  hundred 
and  eighteen  men  that  came  to  the  rescue.  Pur- 
suing the  invaders,  they  made  fight  upon  them,  and 
defeated  them.  The  story,  as  told  in  Genesis,  is 
very  charming  in  itself,  as  well  as  for  the  noble 
spirit  displayed  by  Abraham.  Whether  it  be  his- 
torical or  legendary,  it  shows  that  Abraham  was 
not,  nor  was  thought  of  by  posterity,  a man  who 
stood  for  peace  at  any  price,  though  he  was  a lover 
of  peace,  and  Jewish  tradition  has  celebrated  him 
as  a friend  and  exemplar  of  peace. 

Thus,  Abraham  typifies  ancient  Israel.  Israel  be- 
gins as  a peaceable  people,  but  at  a very  early  stage 
of  his  history,  he  learns  the  necessity  of  war,  and 
the  need  of  acquainting  himself  with  the  methods 
and  the  material  of  warfare.  Indeed,  as  we  survey 


Some  Great  Wars  of  the. Bible  41 

the  history  of  Israel,  we  may  say  that  it  falls  into 
several  cycles  of  warfare. 

The  first  cycle  is  that  of  the  Wilderness.  The 
Wilderness  is  frankly  represented  in  the  Bible  as  the 
training  camp  of  the  Israelites.  It  was  there  they 
were  meant  to  learn  war.  Nor  did  they  have  to 
wait  long.  First,  they  were  attacked  by  Amalek, 
a nomadic  tribe  of  the  desert.  Then,  when  they 
reached  the  South  coast  of  the  Dead  Sea,  on  their 
way  to  Canaan,  they  met  with  Sihon,  King  of  the 
Amorites.  Sihon  really  did  not  belong  to  those 
parts.  His  domain  was  west  of  Jordan.  But  he 
had  invaded  the  eastern  shores  and  taken  some  val- 
uable territory  from  the  Moabites  and  the  Am- 
monites. Moses  sought  no  quarrel  with  Sihon.  He 
asked  for  permission  to  pass  through  peaceably,  but 
Sihon  met  the  request  with  a declaration  of  war. 
The  Hebrews  were  victorious,  and  they  took  from 
Sihon  what  but  a short  time  ago  he  had  seized  from 
Ammon  and  Moab. 

“ And  Israel  sent  messengers  unto  Sihon  king  of  the 
Amorites,  saying:  ‘Let  me  pass  through  thy  land;  we 
will  not  turn  aside  into  field,  or  into  vineyard;  we  will 
not  drink  of  the  water  of  the  wells;  we  will  go  by  the 
king’s  highway,  until  we  have  passed  thy  border.’  And 
Sihon  would  not  suffer  Israel  to  pass  through  his  border; 
but  Sihon  gathered  all  his  people  together,  and  went  out 
against  Israel  into  the  wilderness,  and  came  to  Jahaz; 
and  he  fought  against  Israel.  And  Israel  smote  him  with 
the  edge  of  the  sword,  and  possessed  his  land  from  the 
Arnon  unto  the  Jabbok,  even  unto  the  children  of  Am- 


42 


The  War  and  the  Bible 


mon;  for  the  border  of  the  children  of  Ammon  was 
strong.  And  Israel  took  all  these  cities;  and  Israel  dwelt 
in  all  the  cities  of  the  Amorites,  in  Heshbon,  and  in  all 
the  towns  thereof.  For  Heshbon  was  the  city  of  Sihon  the 
king  of  the  Amorites,  who  had  fought  against  the  former 
king  of  Moab,  and  taken  all  his  land  out  of  his  hand, 
even  unto  the  Arnon.  Wherefore  they  that  speak  in  para- 
bles say: 

Come  ye  to  Heshbon ! 

Let  the  city  of  Sihon  be  built  and  established! 

For  a fire  is  gone  out  of  Heshbon, 

A flame  from  the  city  of  Sihon; 

It  hath  devoured  Ar  of  Moab, 

The  lords  of  the  high  places  of  Arnon. 

Woe  to  thee,  Moab! 

Thou  art  undone,  O people  of  Chemosh; 

He  hath  given  his  sons  as  fugitives, 

And  his  daughters  into  captivity, 

Unto  Sihon  king  of  the  Amorites. 

We  have  shot  at  them  — Heshbon  is  perished  — even 
unto  Dibon, 

And  we  have  laid  waste  even  unto  Nophah, 

Which  reacheth  unto  Medeba.” 

The  second  cycle  comprises  the  wars  against  the 
Canaanites.  Some  years  ago,  there  was  found  a 
cuneiform  tablet  at  Tel  Amarna,  in  Egypt,  record- 
ing the  fact  that  around  the  year  1400  b.  c.,  the 
Habiru,  a warlike  Semitic  tribe,  invaded  Palestine, 
and  fought  for  the  possession  of  the  country  either 
by  themselves  or  in  alliance  with  some  native  tribes. 
It  is  certain  that  the  Habiru  were  the  Hebrews. 
But  we  have  a good  account  of  the  conquest  of 
Canaan  in  the  books  of  Joshua  and  Judges.  Jericho 


Some  Great  Wars  of  the. Bible 


43 


was  the  first  place  taken,  notwithstanding  its  forti- 
fication. Nor  must  we  take  too  literally  the  at- 
tribution of  its  fall  to  the  trumpets.  It  was  the  valor 
and  the  energy  of  the  Hebrews  that  counted.  In- 
deed, we  cannot  but  marvel  at  the  progress  of  the 
Israelites  in  Canaan.  That  they  were  at  a disad- 
vantage we  know.  The  Canaanites  were  their  su- 
periors in  material  civilization;  they  had  fortified 
cities;  they  had  superior  armaments;  above  all,  they 
had  iron  chariots  of  war,  which  were  unknown  to 
the  Hebrews,  and  which  upon  first  sight  must  have 
seemed  as  formidable  to  them  as  the  “ tanks  ” of 
to-day.  Yet  the  Hebrews  advanced,  helped  no  doubt 
by  their  superior  vigor  and  moral  purpose.  The 
Canaanites  were  driven  back  further  and  further. 
The  process  was  not  as  rapid  as  some  people  fancy; 
but  it  was  sufficient  to  secure  the  settlement  of  the 
Hebrews,  though  it  took  generations  to  complete  the 
conquest. 

The  war  against  the  Canaanites  was  aggravated 
by  the  conflict  with  the  Philistines.  These  wars  may 
be  classed  with  the  Canaanite  cycle,  though  they 
really  were  a thing  apart  and  even  more  formidable 
than  the  Canaanite  combat.  Only  in  recent  years 
have  we  come  to  know  something  about  the  origin 
and  nature  of  the  Philistines,  who  previously  had 
been  little  more  than  a name.  It  seems  certain  that 
they  were  remnants  of  the  Cretan  Empire,  which 
had  suffered  disruption  about  the  14th  century  B.  c., 
after  having  flourished  from  immemorial  antiquity 


44 


\ The  War  and  the  Bible 


and  having  produced  a manifold  and  magnificent 
civilization,  some  of  the  best  parts  of  which  was 
inherited  by  Greece.  When  Crete  was  crushed,  and 
its  population  dispersed,  some  of  its  tribes  sought  to 
establish  themselves  in  Egypt.  They  encountered  a 
powerful  Pharaoh,  however,  and  were  repulsed. 
They  then  withdrew  to  the  coast  of  the  Mediter- 
ranean, and  from  that  point  of  vantage  they  m:  Je 
repeated  attempts  to  conquer  Canaan.  In  this  effort 
they  were  met  by  the  Hebrews,  who  about  the  same 
time  had  reached  Canaan  from  the  other  side,  across 
Jordan.  One  of  these  Cretan  tribes,  whose  names 
appear  on  Egyptian  monuments,  were  the  Purasati, 
or  the  Philistines.  It  was  the  contest  with  the  Phil- 
istines that  served  to  test  the  mettle  of  the  Hebrews. 
It  made  for  greater  union  among  their  several 
tribes,  it  centralized  their  forces,  and  finally  caused 
the  institution  of  kingship.  It  was  the  presence  of 
the  Philistines  that  led  to  the  choice  of  Saul,  who 
for  one  vindicates  Carlyle’s  ingenious  though  erro- 
neous etymology  of  the  word  king,  as  designating  the 
man  who  can.  Saul  is  made  king  because  the  people 
think  he  can  overcome  their  chief  rival.  Samuel 
had  helped  them  in  their  campaign  against  the  Phil- 
istines by  leadership  and  prayer.  “ And  the  children 
of  Israel  said  to  Samuel : “ Cease  not  to  cry  unto 
the  Lord  our  God  for  us,  that  He  save  us  out  of 
the  hand  of  the  Philistines !”  When  Samuel  has 
grown  old,  they  demand  a king.  “ The  people  re- 
fused to  hearken  unto  the  voice  of  Samuel,  and 


Some  Great  Wars  of  the  .Bible 


45 


they  said,  ‘ Nay,  but  there  shall  be  a king  over  us, 
that  we  also  may  be  like  all  the  nations,  and  that 
our  king  may  judge  us,  and  go  out  before  us,  and 
fight  our  battles!  * ” Both  the  triumph  and  the  de- 
feat of  Saul  were  connected  with  the  Philistine  peril, 
and  it  was  David  who  finally  won  decisive  victories 
over  them  and  subdued  them  completely.  David  also 
succeeded  in  taking  Jerusalem  from  the  Jebusites, 
and  he  extended  his  domain  in  other  directions.  He 
became  the  ideal  king  in  Israel’s  annals. 

No  sooner,  however,  had  the  Hebrews  established 
themselves,  than  they  had  to  begin  to  fight  for  de- 
fense. The  years  of  peace  were  few  and  far  between. 
After  the  division  of  the  Kingdom,  the  need  for  de- 
fensive warfare  became  particularly  clear.  The  diffi- 
culty of  Palestine  was  in  its  position.  It  lay  between 
Egypt  and  Mesopotamia.  According  as  either  or 
both  of  these  empires  grew  in  power  or  ambition, 
Palestine  was  imperilled.  This  is  the  reason  why  the 
Hebrew  kings  very  soon  realized  the  necessity  of 
alliances.  Even  Solomon  felt  the  pressure  of  Egypt. 
Therefore,  he  married  an  Egyptian  princess,  which, 
we  may  be  sure,  was  not  merely  a love  affair  but 
also  the  symbol  of  a political  covenant.  Ahab’s  mar- 
riage with  a Phoenician  princess  also  had  a political 
motive.  Similarly,  the  relations  between  the  He- 
brews and  the  Syrians  of  Damascus  were  influenced 
by  political  conditions.  The  Syrians  were  either 
allied  with  the  Hebrews  or  fought  against  them, 
according  to  the  behavior  of  Assyria  toward  them- 


4 6 


The  War  and  the  Bible 


selves.  When  in  the  ninth  century  b.  c.,  Assyria 
assumed  the  proportions  and  the  policy  of  a great 
military  empire,  there  began  for  Israel  a long  series 
of  defensive  wars.  In  the  course  of  them,  the  He- 
brews showed  courage,  strategy,  and  endurance. 
But  finally  they  succumbed,  Israel  falling  in  the 
year  722,  and  Judea  in  586  b.  c. 

What  did  these  wars  accomplish? 

First,  they  gave  Israel  his  place  in  history.  Sec- 
ondly, they  showed  the  ultimate  superiority  of  moral 
strength  to  material.  And,  thirdly,  they  helped  to 
purify  the  Jew’s  own  conception  of  Religion,  as 
well  as  to  prepare  him  for  the  tests  of  the  future. 

They  also  formed  the  beginning  of  that  long 
process  of  the  moral  education  of  humanity  which 
is  not  yet  ended. 


HEROES  OF  WAR  IN  THE  BIBLE 


Now  and  then  we  are  told  that  the  present  War  is 
an  impersonal  affair.  The  gigantic  struggle  is  car- 
ried on  by  a complex  system  of  invisible  administra- 
tion, on  fronts  covering  hundreds  of  miles,  and  the 
individual  is  of  little  consequence.  Still,  it  is  quite 
certain  that  this  is  not  the  whole  truth.  However 
impersonal  the  war  may  seem,  we  cannot  leave 
personality  out  of  account,  nor  that  sublimest  man- 
ifestation of  personality,  heroism.  All  along  the 
line  of  combat,  and  in  every  branch  of  service,  this 
war  has  produced  its  heroes.  Many  heroic  deeds 
have  been  done  on  land,  on  sea,  and  in  the  air. 
Some  of  the  most  perilous  undertakings  of  the  war 
have  been  carried  out  by  heroes  — by  men  offering 
themselves  willingly  and  acting  in  a spirit  of  hero- 
ism. 


“ I have  a rendezvous  with  Death 
At  some  designated  barricade, 

When  Spring  comes  back  with  rustling  shade 
And  apple-blossoms  fill  the  air  — 

I have  a rendezvous  with  Death 

When  Spring  brings  back  blue  days  and  fair. 

“ God  knows  ’t  were  better  to  be  deep 
Pillowed  in  silk  and  scented  down, 

47 


48 


The  War  and  the  Bible 


Where  Love  throbs  out  in  blissful  sleep 
Pulse  nigh  to  pulse,  and  breath  to  breath, 

Where  hushed  awakenings  are  dear  . . . 

But  I’ve  a rendezvous  with  Death 
At  midnight  in  some  flaming  town, 

When  Spring  trips  north  again  this  year, 

And  I to  my  pledged  word  am  true, 

I shall  not  fail  that  rendezvous ! ” 

This  is  the  spirit  that  has  quickened  many  a 
noble  youth  and  prompted  them  to  lay  down  their 
good  lives.  Indeed,  no  matter  how  much  we  may 
oppose  and  lament  war  as  such,  we  cannot  ignore 
its  part  in  evoking  and  kindling  the  heroic  strain 
in  men. 

In  early  times  this  was  even  more  true,  for  the 
reason  that  war  was  much  more  personal  than  it 
is  now.  Its  nature  was  such  as  to  bring  to  the  fore 
the  men  of  heroic  stamp.  There  were  not  as  many 
varieties  of  armament  as  there  are  now,  mechanical 
contrivances  were  not  as  numerous  nor  as  deadly  — 
the  conduct  of  war  depended  on  personal  qualities, 
and  those  who  possessed  such  qualities  in  the  high- 
est degree  became  leaders  of  their  own  people,  as 
well  as  victors  over  their  foe.  In  the  records  of  the 
early  wars,  therefore,  individuals  occupy  the  most 
important  places.  It  is  not  a question  of  the  sub- 
marine, or  the  aeroplane,  of  railways  and  conserva- 
tion, but  one  of  personal  heroism.  For  instance, 
when  the  Ammonites  gathered  at  Gilead  ready  to 
attack  the  Israelites,  the  latter  held  a council  at 


Heroes  of  War  in  the  Bible 


49 


Mizpah  to  decide  upon  a leader.  “ Who  is  the 
man,”  they  said  to  one  another,  “ who  can  be  first 
to  war  upon  the  Ammonites?  He  shall  be  head 
over  all  the  inhabitants  of  Gilead ! ” The  choice  fell 
upon  Jephthah  the  Gileadite,  a man  of  illicit  origin, 
the  son  of  a harlot,  but  “ a mighty  man  of  valor.” 
Though  on  account  of  his  birth  he  had  been  dis- 
owned and  banished,  representative  men  are  sent 
to  bring  him  home.  He  consents  to  lead  the  battle 
against  the  Ammonites,  on  condition  that  if  he  wins, 
he  shall  become  head  over  his  people.  The  elders 
not  only  accept  the  condition,  but  he  is  made  head 
forthwith. 

“ And  it  came  to  pass  after  a while,  that  the  children 
of  Ammon  made  war  against  Israel.  And  it  was  so,  that 
when  the  children  of  Ammon  made  war  against  Israel, 
the  elders  of  Gilead  went  to  fetch  Jephthah  out  of  the 
land  of  Tob.  And  they  said  unto  Jephthah:  ‘Come  and 
be  our  chief,  that  we  may  fight  with  the  children  of  Am- 
mon.’ And  Jephthah  said  unto  the  elders  of  Gilead:  ‘Did 
not  ye  hate  me,  and  drive  me  out  of  my  father’s  house? 
and  why  are  ye  come  unto  me  now  when  ye  are  in  dis- 
tress?’ And  the  elders  of  Gilead  said  unto  Jephthah: 
‘ Therefore  are  we  returned  to  thee  now,  that  thou  may- 
est  go  with  us,  and  fight  with  the  children  of  Ammon, 
and  thou  shalt  be  our  head  over  all  the  inhabitants  of 
Gilead.’  And  Jephthah  said  unto  the  elders  of  Gilead: 
‘If  ye  bring  me  back  home  to  fight  with  the  children  of 
Ammon,  and  the  Lord  deliver  them  before  me,  I will  be 
your  head.’  And  the  elders  of  Gilead  said  unto  Jephthah: 
‘The  Lord  shall  be  witness  between  us;  surely  according 
to  thy  word  so  will  we  do.’  Then  Jephthah  went  with  the 
elders  of  Gilead.” 


50 


The  War  and  the  Bible 


We  find  many  similar  illustrations  in  the  Bible. 
Individual  leadership  is  paramount  in  the  story  of 
its  wars.  Abraham,  for  example,  is  not  only  a hero 
of  faith;  he  is  also  a hero  of  war.  When  the  five 
foreign  kings,  under  the  leadreship  of  Amraphel  and 
Chedorlaomer,  invade  Canaan  and  carry  captive, 
among  others,  Lot  and  his  household,  Abraham  goes 
in  pursuit,  and,  aided  by  his  little  army  of  three 
hundred  and  eighteen  men,  he  overcomes  the  in- 
vaders and  rescues  the  captives.  The  heroic  strain 
in  Abraham  is  shown  by  this  incident.  It  is  shown 
by  the  spontaneity  and  the  courage  of  his  act:  he 
goes  of  his  own  accord,  in  order  to  help  a friend. 
It  is  shown  further  by  his  rejection  of  all  reward. 
When  offered  the  booty,  he  will  take  nothing.  Let 
it  not  be  said,  he  says,  that  Sodom’s  king  had  made 
Abraham  rich! 

“And  when  Abram  heard  that  his  brother  was  taken 
captive,  he  led  forth  his  trained  men,  born  in  his  house, 
three  hundred  and  eighteen,  and  pursued  as  far  as  Dan. 
And  he  divided  himself  against  them  by  night,  he  and 
his  servants,  and  smote  them,  and  pursued  them  unto 
Hobah,  which  is  on  the  left  hand  of  Damascus.  And  he 
brought  back  all  the  goods,  and  also  brought  back  his 
brother  Lot,  and  his  goods,  and  the  women  also,  and  the 
people.  And  the  king  of  Sodom  went  out  to  meet  him, 
after  his  return  from  the  slaughter  of  Chedorlaomer  and 
the  kings  that  were  with  him,  at  the  vale  of  Shaveh  — 
the  same  is  the  King’s  Vale.  And  the  king  of  Sodom  said 
unto  Abram : ‘ Give  me  the  persons  and  take  the  goods 
to  thyself.’  And  Abram  said  to  the  king  of  Sodom:  ‘I 
have  lifted  up  my  hand  unto  the  Lord,  God  Most  High, 


Heroes  of  War  in  the  Bibit  5 1 

Maker  of  heaven  and  earth,  that  I will  not  take  a thread 
nor  a shoe-latchet  nor  aught  that  is  thine,  lest  thou 
shouldest  say:  I have  made  Abram  rich;  save  only  that 
which  the  young  men  have  eaten,  and  the  portion  of  the 
men  which  went  with  me,  Aner,  Eshcol,  and  Mamre,  let 
them  take  their  portion.’  ” 

This  is  the  true  spirit  of  the  hero,  who  goes  to 
war  for  the  help  of  another  and  who  insists  on  the 
portion  due  to  his  allies,  but  who  does  not  fight  for 
self-enrichment. 

Yet,  Abraham  is  only  one,  though  the  first,  of  the 
war  heroes  of  the  Bible.  Were  we  to  name  them 
all,  we  should  have  to  include  many  of  its  best- 
known  figures. 

What  are  the  chief  qualities  of  the  hero?  They 
are  idealism,  courage,  and  self-sacrifice.  The  true 
hero  has  an  ideal.  He  is  not  a mere  adventurer. 
He  enters  upon  his  exploit  because  of  some  noble 
purpose.  For  such  an  end  he  has  the  needful  cour- 
age and  is  willing  to  give  his  own  life.  Where  these 
three  qualities  mingle  together,  we  have  the  noblest 
form  of  heroism. 


“ Life  to  these 

Prophetic  and  enraptured  souls  is  vision 
And  the  keen  ecstasy  of  fated  strife, 

And  divination  of  the  loss  as  gain, 

And  reading  mysteries  with  brightened  eyes 
In  fiery  shock  and  dazzling  pain  before 
The  orient  splendor  of  the  face  of  Death, 

As  a great  light  beside  a shadowy  sea.” 


52 


The  War  and  the  Bible 


It  is  such  heroism  that  we  encounter  in  the  wars 
of  the  Bible.  Time  and  again  we  have  before  us 
personalities,  who  are  not  mere  parts  of  a war  ma- 
chine, but  who  are  actuated  by  ideals  and  display  the 
spirit  of  courage  and  self-sacrifice  which  inspires  true 
heroism.  Take,  for  instance,  the  case  of  Deborah. 
To  find  a woman  in  a high  place  of  leadership  at 
so  early  a period  of  history  is  in  itself  remarkable. 
It  indicates  the  democratic  freedom  characteristic 
of  ancient  Israel.  Nor  is  there  anything  legendary 
or  improbable  about  the  story  of  Deborah.  She  ap- 
pears as  a perfectly  historical  figure,  and  the  con- 
ditions under  which  she  arises  are  quite  intelligible. 
It  occurred  in  the  early  stages  of  the  conquest  of 
Canaan.  The  Hebrew  tribes  were  still  scattered 
and  disunited.  The  mountains  and  the  valleys  of 
Canaan  lay  between  them.  They  were  an  easy  prey 
to  any  powerful  foe.  Such  a foe  is  Jabin  the  king 
of  Hazor,  who  for  twenty  years  has  oppressed  them. 
Sisera,  his  general,  at  the  head  of  a vast  army, 
formidably  equipped,  is  ready  to  attack  the  Israel- 
ites from  his  encampment  at  Haroseth,  on  the  north 
side  of  the  river  Kishon.  If  he  met  with  no  united 
resistance,  his  task  would  be  easy.  Deborah  sees  the 
danger.  She  arises  and  challenges  her  people.  She 
calls  for  resistance  to  the  foe,  but  not  only  upon  the 
tribes  threatened  directly,  but  upon  all.  Unless  they 
all  get  together,  they  would  perish.  Upon  Barak  of 
Kadesh-Naphtali  she  calls  to  take  the  lead.  He  con- 
sents, provided  she  will  accompany  the  army.  De- 


Heroes  of  War  in  the  Bible  53 

borah  is  ready  to  go,  not  for  her  own  glory,  but  for 
the  cause,  for  victory. 

“ Now  Deborah,  a prophetess,  the  wife  of  Lappidoth, 
she  judged  Israel  at  that  time.  And  she  sent  and  called 
Barak  the  son  of  Abinoam  out  of  Kedesh-naphtali,  and 
said  unto  him:  ‘Hath  not  the  Lord,  the  God  of  Israel, 
commanded,  saying:  Go  and  draw  toward  mount  Tabor, 
and  take  with  thee  ten  thousand  men  of  the  children  of 
Naphtali  and  of  the  children  of  Zebulun?  And  I will 
draw  unto  thee  to  the  brook  Kishon  Sisera,  the  captain 
of  Jabin’s  army,  with  his  chariots  and  his  multitude;  and 
I will  deliver  him  into  thy  hand.’  And  Barak  said  unto 
her:  ‘If  thou  wilt  go  with  me,  then  I will  go;  but  if 
thou  wilt  not  go  with  me,  I will  not  go.’  And  she  said: 
‘I  will  surely  go  with  thee;  notwithstanding  the  journey 
that  thou  takest  shall  not  be  for  thy  honor;  for  the  Lord 
will  give  Sisera  over  into  the  hand  of  a woman.’  And 
Deborah  arose,  and  went  with  Barak  to  Kedesh.” 

No  wonder  that  such  an  heroic  spirit  kindled 
idealism,  courage,  and  self-sacrifice  in  others.  There 
were  some  cowards  and  laggards  among  the  tribes, 
but  most  of  them  responded  to  the  call,  and  Israel 
was  saved. 

“And  Barak  called  Zebulun  and  Naphtali  together  to 
Kedesh;  and  there  went  up  ten  thousand  men  at  his  feet; 
and  Deborah  went  up  with  him. 

“ And  they  told  Sisera  that  Barak  the  son  of  Abinoam 
was  gone  up  to  mount  Tabor.  And  Sisera  gathered  to- 
gether all  his  chariots,  even  nine  hundred  chariots  of 
iron,  and  all  the  people  that  were  with  him,  from  Haro- 
seth-goiim,  unto  the  brook  Kishon.  And  Deborah  said 


54 


The  War  and  the  Bible 


unto  Barak:  ‘Up,  for  this  is  the  day  in  which  the  Lord 
hath  delivered  Sisera  into  thy  hand;  is  not  the  Lord  gone 
out  before  thee?’  So  Barak  went  down  from  mount  Ta- 
bor, and  ten  thousand  men  after  him.  And  the  Lord  dis- 
comfited Sisera,  and  all  his  chariots,  and  all  his  host, 
with  the  edge  of  the  sword  before  Barak;  and  Sisera 
alighted  from  his  chariot,  and  fled  away  on  his  feet.  But 
Barak  pursued  after  the  chariots,  and  after  the  host,  unto 
Haroseth-goiim;  and  all  the  host  of  Sisera  fell  by  the 
edge  of  the  sword;  there  was  not  a man  left.” 

Victory  was  due  to  heroic  leadership,  of  the  kind 
that  prevailed  in  early  Israel  and  has  left  its  im- 
press upon  the  fascinating  pages  of  the  book  of 
Judges. 

One  particular  characteristic  of  the  hero  of  the 
Bible  is  faith.  It  finds  expression  in  defiance  of 
superior  physical  strength  and  in  the  belief  that 
God  can  help  by  means  of  a few,  as  well  as  by 
many. 

“ Now  know  I that  the  Lord  saveth  His  anointed ; 

He  will  answer  him  from  His  holy  heaven 

With  the  mighty  acts  of  His  saving  right  hand. 

Some  trust  in  chariots,  and  some  in  horses; 

But  we  will  make  mention  of  the  name  of  the  Lord  our 
God. 

They  are  bowed  down  and  fallen; 

But  we  are  risen,  and  stand  upright. 

Save,  Lord; 

Let  the  King  answer  us  in  the  day  that  we  call.” 

This  is  not  to  say  that  they  did  not  appreciate 
the  value  of  an  army.  From  the  time  of  David, 


Heroes  of  IV ar  in  the  Bible 


55 


Israel  had  a standing  army,  the  original  nucleus  of 
which  w*as  formed  by  David’s  own  body-guard  of 
six  hundred  “ mighty  men,”  gathered  round  him 
in  his  exile.  But  their  chief  strength  came  from  their 
faith.  “ Not  by  might,  nor  by  power,  but  by  My 
spirit,  saith  the  Lord.”  This  belief  — the  child  of 
faith  — we  find  all  through  Jewish  history,  inspiring 
some  of  the  most  heroic  moments  of  that  history. 
During  the  Maccabean  war,  for  instance,  it  is  re- 
flected in  the  speech  of  Judas  the  Maccabee  to  his 
little  army  before  the  battle  of  Bethhoron.  “ In  the 
sight  of  heaven,”  he  says,  “it  is  all  one  to  save  by 
many  or  by  few,  for  victory  in  battle  standeth  not 
in  multitude  of  an  host,  but  strength  is  from 
Heaven.”  Time  and  again  the  heroes  of  the  Bible 
illustrate  this  conviction.  Indeed,  they  go  even  fur- 
ther. God  would  rather  help  by  means  of  a few 
men,  who  are  faithful  and  true,  than  by  a great 
many  who  are  vainglorious,  craven,  and  treacher- 
ous. The  fine  story  of  Gideon  voices  such  a faith. 
In  his  fight  against  the  Midianites  he  does  not  ac- 
cept all  those  that  come. 

“And  the  Lord  said  unto  Gideon:  ‘The  people  that 
are  with  thee  are  too  many  for  Me  to  give  the  Midianites 
into  their  hand,  lest  Israel  vaunt  themselves  against  Me, 
saying  Mine  own  hand  hath  saved  me.  Now  therefore 
make  proclamation  in  the  ears  of  the  people,  saying: 
Whosoever  is  fearful  and  trembling,  let  him  return  and 
depart  early  from  mount  Gilead.’  And  there  returned  of 
the  people  twenty  and  two  thousand;  and  there  remained 
ten  thousand.” 


56 


The  War  and  the  Bible 


Gideon  selects  his  men,  and  with  the  three  hun- 
dred who  did  not  bow  their  knees,  he  goes  to  battle 
and  wins.  Similarly,  David,  when  first  he  appears 
on  the  field  of  battle,  defies  physical  strength. 
There  is  Goliath  — a giant.  David  scorns  his  bulk. 
“ Thou  hast  come  with  a sword,  and  with  a spear, 
and  with  a javelin;  but  I come  to  thee  in  the  name 
of  the  Lord  of  hosts,  the  God  of  the  armies  of 
Israel  Whom  thou  hast  taunted ! ” With  such  faith 
David  faces  the  haughty  champion  of  the  Philistines, 
and  there  is  no  doubt  that  similar  faith  animated 
his  whole  life  and  molded  his  heroic  character. 

“A  king  is  not  saved  by  the  multitude  of  a host; 

A mighty  man  is  not  delivered  by  great  strength. 

A horse  is  a vain  thing  for  safety; 

Neither  doth  it  afford  escape  by  its  great  strength. 

Behold  the  eye  of  the  Lord  is  toward  them  that  fear 
Him. 

Toward  them  that  wait  for  His  mercy.” 

David’s  own  heroism  drew  to  him  other  men  of 
courage  and  valor,  who  were  ready  to  risk  their 
lives  in  the  service  of  their  country  and  their  king. 
It  is  thus  that  David  reduced  the  fortress  of  Jeru- 
salem, which  for  a long  time  seemed  invincible. 
When  David  sought  to  take  it,  the  Jebusites  defied 
him.  “ Except  thou  take  away  the  blind  and  the 
lame,”  they  taunted  him,  “ thou  shalt  not  come  in 
hither!  ” They  thought  it  impossible  for  David  to 
come  in.  Their  fortress  was  impregnable;  the  blind 


Heroes  of  War  in  the  Bible,  57 

and  the  lame  were  enough  to  defend  it.  David, 
however,  had  his  men  with  him.  “ Whosoever 
smiteth  the  Jebusites  first,”  he  proclaimed,  “ shall 
be  chief  and  captain!”  Joab  responded.  The 
fortress  was  taken  and  became  the  city  of  David, 
while  Joab  was  made  chief  of  the  army. 

Similarly,  the  heroic  devotion  of  his  followers 
never  failed  David.  His  own  heroism  kindled  their 
courage  and  love.  During  the  revolt  of  Absalom, 
for  example,  David  declares  his  intention  to  accom- 
pany his  army  into  battle.  But  his  men  prevent  him 
from  doing  so,  showing  what  a misfortune  any  mis- 
hap to  him  would  mean  to  the  people. 

“And  the  king  said  unto  the  people:  ‘I  will  surely  go 
forth  with  you  myself  also!  ’ But  the  people  said:  ‘Thou 
shalt  not  go  forth ; for  if  we  flee  away,  they  will  not  care 
for  us;  neither  if  half  of  us  die,  will  they  care  for  us; 
but  thou  art  worth  ten  thousand  of  us:  therefore  now  it 
is  better  that  thou  be  r^ady  to  succor  us  out  of  the  ciy.’ 
And  the  king  said  unto  them:  ‘What  seemeth  you  best  I 
will  do.’  ” 

Another  instance  of  the  devotion  of  David’s  fol- 
lowers is  contained  in  the  famous  episode  of  the 
water  from  the  well  of  Bethlehem.  When  David  is 
in  the  hold  of  Adullam,  making  battle  against  the 
Philistines,  who  are  encamped  round  about  Bethle- 
hem, he  longs  for  a draught  from  the  well  he  knew 
as  a child.  The  three  heroes  cut  their  way  through 
the  Philistine  army,  draw  the  water,  and  return. 


58 


The  War  and  the  Bible 


David  is  overwhelmed  with  the  noble  devotion  of  his 
men,  and  holds  what  they  have  fetched  at  the  peril 
of  their  lives  as  too  sacred  to  drink. 

“And  David  longed,  and  said:  ‘Oh  that  one  would 
give  me  water  to  drink  of  the  well  of  Bethlehem,  which 
is  by  the  gate ! ’ And  the  three  mighty  men  broke  through 
the  host  of  the  Philistines,  and  drew  water  out  of  the  well 
of  Bethlehem,  that  was  by  the  gate,  and  took  it,  and 
brought  it  to  David;  but  he  would  not  drink  thereof  but 
poured  it  out  unto  the  Lord.  And  he  said:  ‘Be  it  far 
from  me,  O Lord,  that  I should  do  this;  shall  I drink  the 
blood  of  the  men  that  went  in  jeopardy  of  their  lives?’ 
therefore  he  would  not  drink  it.” 

Like  a true  hero,  David  recognized  the  heroism 
of  his  followers.  Indeed,  he  seems  to  have  organized 
two  orders  — one  of  three  and  one  of  thirty  — 
which  included  the  most  distinguished  of  his  heroic 
men,  and  some  of  their  valiant  deeds  are  recorded, 
though  in  fragmentary  fashion,  in  the  penultimate 
chapter  of  the  books  of  Samuel.  To  confine  our* 
selves  to  the  order  of  the  three,  it  is  related  of  the 
first,  that  he  lifted  up  his  spear  against  eight  hun* 
dred  whom  he  slew  at  one  time.  As  for  the  second, 
when  the  Israelites  fled  from  a certain  battle  against 
the  Philistines,  “ he  stood  firm,  and  smote  the  Phil- 
istines until  his  hand  was  weary,  and  his  hand  did 
cleave  unto  the  sword;  and  the  Lord  wrought  a 
great  victory  that  day;  and  the  people  returned 
after  him  only  to  strip  the  slain.”  The  third,  like- 
wise, distinguished  himself  in  a battle. 


Heroes  of  War  in  the  Bible  59 

“ And  the  Philistines  were  gathered  together  into  a 
troop,  where  was  a plot  of  ground  full  of  lentils;  and 
the  people  fled  from  the  Philistines.  But  he  stood  in  the 
midst  of  the  plot,  and  defended  it,  and  slew  the  Philis- 
tines; and  the  Lord  wrought  a great  victory.” 

David  reminds  us  of  another  hero  of  the  Bible, 
Jonathan.  Jonathan  is  one  of  the  most  noble,  most 
heroic,  and  most  lovable  characters  of  the  Bible, 
though  we  don’t  often  think  of  him  apart  from 
others.  This  in  itself  indicates  his  nobility.  Jona- 
than is  selfless.  He  never  thinks  of  himself  first; 
it  is  always  somebody  else  — whether  his  people,  or 
his  father,  or  his  friend.  No  wonder  David  loved 
him ; truer  friend,  more  devoted  friend,  never 
lived.  “ The  soul  of  Jonathan  was  knit  with  the 
soul  of  David,  and  Jonathan  loved  him  as  his  own 
soul.”  With  his  father,  Jonathan  remained  to  the 
very  last,  though  often  he  had  been  hurt  and  of- 
fended by  him.  Poor  Saul  had  no  more  devoted, 
nor  more  sympathetic,  nor  more  indulgent,  follower. 
Jonathan  died  with  his  father  — for  the  honor  of 
his  house  and  his  people.  A true  hero  was  Jona- 
than, and  he  showed  it  when  in  the  early  days  of 
his  father’s  war  against  the  Philistines  he  forced 
the  flight  of  the  foe  by  a daring  exploit.  When  the 
Philistine  army  was  gathered  at  Michmas,  Jona- 
than, accompanied  by  his  armor-bearer,  clambered 
up  the  rocks  leading  to  an  advanced  post  of  the 
enemy,  and  slew  twenty  men.  The  suddenness  and 


6 o 


The  War  and  the  Bible 


the  success  of  the  feat  terrified  the  foe,  and  they 
all  flew  in  panic. 

“ Now  it  fell  upon  upon  a day,  that  Jonathan  the  son 
of  Saul  said  unto  the  young  man  that  bore  his  armor: 
‘ Come  and  let  us  go  over  to  the  Philistines’  garrison, 
that  is  on  yonder  side.’  But  he  told  not  his  father.  And 
the  people  knew  not  that  Jonathan  was  gone. 

“And  Jonathan  said  to  the  young  man  that  bore  his 
armor:  ‘Come  and  let  us  go  over  unto  the  garrison  of 
these  uncircumcised;  it  may  be  that  the  Lord  will  work 
for  us;  for  there  is  no  restraint  to  the  Lord  to  save  by 
many  or  by  few.’  And  his  armor-bearer  said  unto  him: 
‘ Do  all  that  is  in  thy  heart ; turn  thee,  behold  I am  with 
thee  according  to  thy  heart.’  And  both  of  them  disclosed 
themselves  unto  the  garrison  of  the  Philistines;  and  the 
Philistines  said:  ‘Behold  Hebrews  coming  forth  out  of 
the  holes  where  they  hid  themselves.’  And  the  men  of  the 
garrison  spoke  to  Jonathan  and  his  armor-bearer,  and 
said : * Come  up  to  us,  and  we  will  show  you  a thing.’ 
And  Jonathan  said  unto  his  armor-bearer:  ‘Come  up 
after  me;  for  the  Lord  hath  delivered  them  into  the  hand 
of  Israel.’  And  Jonathan  climbed  up  upon  his  hands  and 
upon  his  feet,  and  his  armor-bearer  after  him;  and  they 
fell  before  Jonathan ; and  his  armor-bearer  slew  them 
after  him.  And  that  first  slaughter,  which  Jonathan  and 
his  armor-bearer  made,  was  about  twenty  men,  within 
as  it  were  half  a furrow’s  length  in  an  acre  of  land.  And 
there  was  a trembling  in  the  camp  in  the  field,  and 
among  all  the  people;  the  garrison,  and  the  spoilers,  they 
also  trembled;  and  the  earth  quaked;  so  it  grew  into  a 
terror  from  God.  And  the  watchmen  of  Saul  in  Gibeath- 
benjamin  looked;  and,  behold,  the  multitude  melted  away, 
and  they  went  hither  and  thither.” 


Heroes  of  War  in  the  Bible  6 1 

Jonathan  did  the  deed  regardless  of  peril  and 
without  noise  or  pretense.  He  was  marked  by  the 
silence  as  well  as  the  spontaneity  of  the  true  hero. 

As  we  think  of  these  heroes  of  the  Bible,  we  can 
the  better  understand  Jewish  history.  The  Jew,  it 
is  often  said,  is  not  a fighter.  This  certainly  is  not 
true  of  the  historic  Jew.  No  war  has  produced 
greater  heroism  and  endurance  than  the  war  of  the 
Jews  against  the  Romans.  One  need  but  think  of 
the  siege  of  Jerusalem,  and  the  fortitude  of  the 
Jews  in  defending  it,  or  of  the  little  band  of  liberty- 
loving  men  who  held  the  fortress  of  Masada  for 
some  time  after  Jerusalem  had  fallen  and  who, 
realizing  that  they  could  resist  no  longer,  their 
wall  being  on  fire,  resolved  to  die  by  their  own 
hands,  and  to  slay  their  wives  and  children,  rather 
than  become  Roman  slaves.  The  words  of  Eleazar, 
their  leader,  as  recorded  by  his  contemporary,  Jo- 
sephus, are  among  the  most  heroic  ever  spoken. 
“ Since  we  long  ago,  my  brave  friends,  resolved 
never  to  be  slaves  to  the  Romans,  nor  to  any  other 
than  God  Himself  (who  alone  is  the  true  and  just 
Lord  of  all  mankind),  the  time  is  now  come  that 
obliges  us  to  carry  out  that  resolve  in  act.  Let  us 
not  at  this  crisis  bring  the  reproach  upon  ourselves 
that,  whereas  we  would  not  formerly  undergo 
slavery  without  danger,  we  now  together  with 
slavery  choose  such  punishments  also  as  will  be 
intolerable,  if  we  fall  alive  into  the  power  of  the 
Romans.  We  were  the  very  first  of  all  that  re- 


62 


The  War  and  the  Bible 


volted  from  them,  and  we  are  the  last  that  fight 
against  them ; and  I cannot  but  esteem  it  as  a favor 
that  God  has  granted  us  that  it  is  still  in  our  power 
to  die  nobly  and  in  a state  of  freedom,  which  has 
not  been  the  case  of  others  who  were  conquered 
against  their  expectation.  Let  our  wives  die  before 
they  are  outraged,  and  our  children  before  they 
have  tasted  of  slavery,  and  after  we  have  slain  them, 
let  us  bestow  that  glorious  benefit  upon  one  an- 
other mutually,  and  preserve  our  freedom  as  a noble 
end  of  our  lives.  While  our  hands  are  still  at  lib- 
erty, and  have  a sword  in  them,  let  them  minister 
to  us  in  our  glorious  design!  Let  us  die  before  we 
become  slaves  of  our  enemies,  and  let  us  go  out  of 
the  world  with  our  children  and  wives  in  a state 
of  freedom ! ” 

In  such  a spirit  the  heroes  of  Masada  died  on 
the  altar  of  liberty. 

It  is  a matter  of  history  that  since  then  the  Jews, 
both  in  war  and  in  peace,  have  not  been  wanting 
in  the  heroic  qualities.  The  prototype  of  such 
heroic  traits  and  deeds  we  find  in  the  war  heroes 
of  the  Bible. 


THE  WAR  POETRY  OF  THE  BIBLE 


Concerning  the  relation  of  war  to  poetry,  there 
exists  a singular  difference  of  opinion.  Some  think 
that  war  stimulates  poetry,  others  that  it  hampers 
it.  Mr.  Edmund  Gosse,  for  instance,  writing  in 
the  year  1915,  on  “ War  Poetry  in  France,”  re- 
marks that  “ there  is  a quality  in  war,  as  there 
is  in  religion,  which  does  not  lend  itself  kindly  to 
the  art  of  verse,”  and  he  adds  that  “ as  a matter  of 
critical  experience,  the  lyrical  triumphs  of  martial 
and  religious  poetry  are  few.”  On  the  other  hand, 
Mr.  Gosse  himself  must  admit  that  the  present  war 
has  given  birth  to  a great  deal  of  poetry,  some  of 
it  of  a very  high  order.  Mr.  Frederic  Harrison, 
on  the  other  hand,  in  his  Obiter  Scriptdj  observes 
that  this  vast  war  — this  stirring  of  the  deeps  in 
man’s  soul  — is  calling  out  much  love  of  poetry, 
and  not  a little  new  poetry,  as  is  ever  the  case,  and 
he  proceeds  to  give  credit  to  the  Revolution  of 
1789  and  to  Napoleon’s  wars  for  the  poetry  of 
Scott,  Byron,  Wordsworth,  Coleridge,  Shelley,  and 
Keats. 

We  shall  not  enter  here  into  a discussion  of  this 
difference  of  opinion  on  the  relation  of  war  and 
poetry.  But  as  far  as  the  Bible  is  concerned,  the 
63 


6 4 


The  War  and  the  Bible 


observation  of  Mr.  Gosse  certainly  misses  the  mark. 
For,  some  of  the  finest  lyrical  triumphs  of  the  Bible 
certainly  have  a religious  and  martial  character. 
Of  course,  there  may  be  such  as  are  still  unaware 
of  the  poetic  nature  of  a larger  part  of  the  Bible. 
The  fact  that  Bible  poetry  is  not  cast  in  the  con- 
ventional mold  may  blind  them  to  its  true  nature. 
But  the  number  of  such  must  be  dwindling,  par- 
ticularly since  the  apostles  of  the  new  poetry  have 
been  at  work  demonstrating  the  independence  of 
poetry  of  the  traditional  devices  of  rhyme  and 
meter.  By  the  real  test,  there  is  a great  deal  of 
poetry  in  the  Bible,  most  of  it  dealing  with  reli- 
gious themes,  and  a not  insignificant  portion  with 
the  subject  of  war. 

Moreover,  it  is  perfectly  natural  to  find  such 
poetry  in  the  Bible.  First  of  all,  we  know  that 
poetry  is  the  expression  of  emotion.  It  is  the 
rhythmic  expression  of  exalted  emotion.  And  the 
Hebrews  were  an  emotional  people.  Throughout 
the  Bible  there  throb  great  emotions;  it  is  a book 
of  strong  passions,  of  the  elemental  passions  of  life. 
The  Bible  is  not  a master-piece  of  the  human  in- 
tellect; it  is  the  master-work  of  the  human  heart. 
Those  who  say  that  the  Jews  were  never  great 
metaphysicians,  are  quite  right.  Some  Jews  may 
have  become  distinguished  philosophers.  But  the 
forte  of  Israel  was  the  heart.  This  is  the  word 
we  encounter  most  often  in  the  Bible.  In  all  ef- 
forts or  systems  of  thought  put  forth  by  Jews  — 


The  War  Poetry  of  the  Bible  65 

whether  for  specific  Jewish  purposes,  as  in  the  case 
of  Judah  Halevi,  Ibn  Gebirol,  and  Maimonides,  or 
for  general  ends,  as  in  the  case  of  Philo,  Spinoza, 
and  Bergson  — it  is  the  heart,  emotion,  intuition 
that  prevails  in  the  end.  The  Hebrews  were  nat- 
urally poetic  and  they  created  in  the  Bible  some  of 
the  world’s  most  exalted  and  imperishable  poetry. 

Among  the  emotions  of  the  ancient  Hebrews, 
however,  none  were  more  powerful  than  those  of 
Religion  and  Patriotism.  These  two  sentiments 
sprang  from  the  same  source.  God  and  country 
went  together.  There  was  a time  when  for  the 
Jews,  like  the  rest  of  the  ancients,  it  was  impos- 
sible to  think  of  God  and  country  as  apart  from 
each  other.  The  two  belonged  together,  and  the 
fate  of  one  designated  and  determined  the  fate  of 
the  other.  This  idea  lay  behind  many  of  the  con- 
cepts of  the  people,  and  it  was  responsible  for  their 
ardent  patriotism.  When,  for  instance,  the  Jews 
were  carried  captive  to  Babylon,  they  felt  not 
merely  that  they  had  lost  their  country,  but  also 
that  they  were  being  taken  away  from  the  pres- 
ence of  their  God.  That  is  what  made  exile  doubly 
tragic  for  them.  This  fusion  of  the  patriotic  and 
religious  emotion  we  find  reflected  in  the  poetry 
of  the  Bible,  preeminently  in  the  Psalms.  Many 
of  the  Psalms  express  the  two  ruling  passions  of 
the  ancient  Hebrew  poet  — Religion  and  Patriot- 
ism, love  of  God  and  of  country,  and  we  can  un- 
derstand them  better  now  than  in  normal  times, 


66 


The  War  and  the  Bible 


in  so  far  as  we  have  come  nearer  at  present  to 
the  true  meaning  of  Religion  and  of  Patriotism. 
Many  an  emotion  dormant  or  feeble  in  time  of 
peace  is  awakened  and  exalted  in  war,  when  feel- 
ing grows  both  more  simple  and  more  intense. 

It  is  our  present-day  experience,  for  instance,  that 
helps  us  to  understand  the  cry  for  revenge  found  in 
some  of  the  Psalms.  Before  the  War,  it  was  hard 
to  explain  how  natural  such  a poem  was  as  the  one 
hundred  and  thirty-seventh  Psalm.  Some  thought 
the  intensity,  the  violence,  of  its  closing  lines  un- 
worthy of  a religious  poet.  They  could  not  ap- 
preciate it,  because  they  knew  naught  of  the  trag- 
edy, the  suffering,  the  misery  that  had  inspired  it. 
They  felt  no  sympathy  with  the  poet  whose  eyes 
had  beheld  his  country  laid  waste  by  the  barbarous 
Babylonians,  its  sanctuary  ruthlessly  demolished,  its 
babes  cruelly  dashed  against  the  rocks,  and  who 
by  such  bitter  memory  is  lashed  into  the  terrible 
cry  of  revenge: 

“Remember,  O Lord,  against  the  children  of  Edom 

The  day  of  Jerusalem; 

Who  said:  ‘Rase  it,  rase  it, 

Even  to  the  foundation  thereof. 

O daughter  of  Babylon,  that  art  to  be  destroyed; 

Happy  shall  he  be,  that  repayeth  thee 

As  thou  hast  served  us. 

Happy  shall  he  be,  that  taketh  and  dasheth  thy  little 
ones 

Against  the  rock.” 

At  present  it  is  easier  to  understand  how  such  a 


The  War  Poetry  of  the  Bible  67 


poem  came  into  being,  expressing  the  tragedy  of 
the  exiled  people,  just  as  modern  poets  are  seeking 
in  similar  terms  to  voice  the  tragedy  of  afflicted 
Belgium. 

“ Land  of  the  desolate,  Mother  of  tears, 

Weeping  your  beauty  marred  and  torn, 

Your  children  tossed  upon  the  spears, 

Your  altars  rent,  your  hearths  forlorn, 

Where  Spring  has  no  renewing  spell, 

And  Love  no  language  save  a long  farewell! 

“Ah,  precious  tears,  and  each  a pearl, 

Whose  price  — for  so  in  God  we  trust 
Who  saw  them  fall  in  that  blind  swirl 
Of  ravening  flame  and  reeking  dust  — 

The  spoiler  with  his  life  shall  pay, 

When  Justice  at  the  last  demands  her  Day. 

“ O,  true  and  proved,  whose  record  stands 
Lettered  in  blood  too  deep  to  fade, 

Take  courage ! Never  in  our  hands 
Shall  the  avenging  sword  be  stayed 
Till  you  are  healed  of  all  your  pain, 

And  come  with  Honor  to  your  own  again!  ” 

Perhaps  the  oldest  form  of  war  poetry  in  the 
Bible  was  the  song  of  victory. 

Indeed,  the  first  bit  of  poetry  found  in  the 
Bible,  a fragment  of  primeval  folksong,  is  a shout 
of  triumph.  It  is  the  proud  challenge  of  Lamech, 
the  father  of  “ the  forger  of  every  cutting  instru- 
ment of  brass  and  iron  ” : 

“Adah  and  Zillah,  hear  my  voice; 

Ye  wives  of  Lamech,  hearken  unto  my  speech; 


68 


The  War  and  the  Bible 


For  I have  slain  a man  for  wounding  me; 

And  a young  man  for  bruising  me; 

If  Cain  shall  be  avenged  sevenfold, 

Truly  Lamech  seventy  and  sevenfold.” 

Other  fragments  of  ancient  military  folksongs  we 
have  in  the  Book  of  Numbers,  where  they  are  set 
in  the  story  of  Israel’s  experience  in  the  wilderness. 
The  finding  of  a well  was  a joyous  event  and  was 
celebrated  in  song: 

“Spring  up,  O well  — sing  ye  unto  it  — 

The  well,  which  the  princes  digged, 

Which  the  nobles  of  the  people  delved, 

With  the  sceptre,  and  with  their  staves ! ” 

The  victory  over  Sihon  the  Amorite,  who  had 
sought  to  stop  the  advance  of  Israel,  was  a mo- 
mentous achievement,  which  filled  the  people  with 
a sense  of  strength  and  confidence.  It  was  com- 
memorated in  a fine  martial  song: 

Come  ye  to  Heshbon! 

Let  the  city  of  Sihon  be  built  and  established! 

For  a fire  is  gone  out  of  Heshbon, 

A flame  from  the  city  of  Sihon ; 

It  hath  devoured  Ar  of  Moab, 

The  lords  of  the  high  places  of  Arnon. 

“Woe  to  thee,  Moab! 

Thou  art  undone,  O people  of  Chemosh; 

He  hath  given  his  sons  as  fugitives, 

And  his  daughters  into  captivity, 

Unto  Sihon  king  of  the  Amorites. 

We  have  shot  at  them  — Heshbon  is  perished  — even 
unto  Dibon, 


The  War  Poetry  of  the  Bible  69 


And  we  have  laid  waste  even  unto  Nophah, 

Which  reacheth  unto  Medeba.” 

The  song  of  victory  among  the  Hebrews  prob- 
ably began  as  a simple  song  with  refrain  sung  by 
those  who  went  out  to  greet  the  warriors  return- 
ing from  battle.  Such  processions  would  seem  to 
have  been  led  by  women,  and  they  included  dance 
and  music.  Of  such  a celebration  we  hear  upon 
the  overthrow  of  Pharaoh,  when  Miriam  takes  a 
timbrel  in  her  hand  and  all  the  women  go  out  after 
her  with  timbrels  and  with  dances.  Miriam  leads 
the  march  and  the  song  she  “ sings  to  them  ” : 

“ Sing  ye  to  the  Lord,  for  He  is  highly  exalted, 

The  horse  and  the  rider  hath  He  thrown  into  the  sea ! ” 

When  Jephthah  returns  from  the  Ammonite  War, 
a similar  celebration  is  led  by  his  daughter,  with 
tragic  result. 

“ His  daughter  came  out  to  meet  him,  with  timbrels 
and  with  dances;  and  she  was  his  only  child;  beside  her 
he  had  neither  son  nor  daughter.” 

David  receives  such  greeting  from  the  enthusias- 
tic populace  when  he  returns  from  the  defeat  of 
the  Philistines. 

“ When  David  returned  from  the  slaughter  of  the 
Philistines,  the  women  came  out  of  all  the  cities  of  Israel, 
singing  and  dancing,  to  meet  King  Saul,  with  timbrels, 
with  joy,  and  with  three-stringed  instruments.  And  the 
women  sang  one  to  another  in  their  play,  and  said: 

‘ Sa-  1 hath  slain  his  thousands, 

And  David  his  ten  thousands.’  ” 


70 


The  War  and  the  Bible 


Thus  ran  their  refrain.  The  Hebrews  were  fond 
of  festive  processions,  in  which  they  gave  vent  to 
their  love  of  rhythm  and  song.  Processions  were 
part  of  religious,  as  well  as  martial,  celebrations. 
One  of  the  loftiest  odes  of  the  Psalms  employs  the 
imagery  of  such  a procession  to  depict  the  march 
of  God  through  the  history  of  His  people:  Psalm 
Sixty-eight.  It  is  one  of  the  noblest,  though  bold- 
est, flights  of  poetry,  and  contains  a remarkable 
fusion  of  the  martial  and  religious  notes.  As  we 
read  it,  we  can’t  help  visualizing  the  triumphal  pro- 
cessions the  Israelites  loved. 

“ Let  God  arise,  let  His  enemies  be  scattered ; 

And  let  them  that  hate  Him  flee  before  Him. 

As  smoke  is  driven  away,  so  drive  them  away; 

As  wax  melteth  before  the  fire, 

So  let  the  wicked  perish  at  the  presence  of  God. 

But  let  the  righteous  be  glad,  let  them  exult  before 
God; 

Yea,  let  them  rejoice  with  gladness. 

“Sing  unto  God,  sing  praises  to  His  name; 

Extol  Him  that  rideth  upon  the  skies,  whose  name  is 
the  Lord; 

And  exult  ye  before  Him. 

O God,  when  Thou  wentest  forth  before  Thy  people, 
When  Thou  didst  march  through  the  wilderness 
The  earth  trembled,  the  heavens  also  dropped  at  the 
presence  of  God; 

Even  yon  Sinai  trembled  at  the  presence  of  God,  the 
God  of  Israel. 

“ The  Lord  giveth  the  word ; 

The  women  that  proclaim  the  tidings  are  a great  host. 


The  War  Poetry  of  the  Bible 


71 


Kings  of  armies  flee,  they  flee; 

And  she  that  tarrieth  at  home  divideth  the  spoil. 

“A  mountain  of  God  is  the  mountain  of  Bashan; 

A mountain  of  peaks  is  the  mountain  of  Bashan. 

Why  look  ye  askance,  ye  mountains  of  peaks, 

At  the  mountain  which  God  hath  desired  for  His 
abode? 

Yea,  the  Lord  will  dwell  therein  for  ever. 

The  chariots  of  God  are  myriads,  even  thousands  upon 
thousands ; 

The  Lord  is  among  them,  as  in  Sinai,  in  holiness. 

“They  see  Thy  goings,  O God, 

Even  the  goings  of  my  God,  my  King,  in  holiness. 

The  singers  go  before,  the  minstrels  follow  after, 

In  the  midst  of  damsels  playing  upon  timbrels: 

‘ Bless  ye  God  in  full  assemblies, 

Even  the  Lord,  ye  that  are  from  the  fountain  of  Israel.’ 
Thy  God  hath  commanded  thy  strength; 

Be  strong,  O God,  Thou  that  hast  wrought  for  us 
Out  of  Thy  temple  at  Jerusalem, 

Whither  kings  shall  bring  presents  unto  Thee. 

Rebuke  the  wild  beast  of  the  reeds, 

The  multitude  of  the  bulls,  with  the  calves  of  the 
peoples, 

Every  one  submitting  himself  with  pieces  of  silver; 

He  hath  scattered  the  peoples  that  delight  in  war! 
Nobles  shall  come  out  of  Egypt; 

Ethiopia  shall  hasten  to  stretch  out  her  hands  unto  God. 

“ Sing  unto  God,  ye  kingdoms  of  the  earth ; 

O sing  praises  unto  the  Lord; 

To  Him  that  rideth  upon  the  heavens  of  heavens,  which 
are  of  old; 

Lo,  He  uttereth  His  voice,  a mighty  voice. 

Ascribe  ye  strength  unto  God; 


72 


The  War  and  the  Bible 


His  majesty  is  over  Israel, 

And  His  strength  is  in  the  skies. 

Awful  is  God  out  of  thy  holy  places; 

The  God  of  Israel,  He  giveth  strength  and  power  unto 
the  people; 

Blessed  be  God.” 

From  the  simple  chant  of  those  martial  proces- 
sions, there  developed  the  Ode  of  Victory,  speci- 
mens of  which  are  among  the  grandest  poems  of 
the  Bible.  There  is,  first,  the  Song  of  Moses,  which 
possibly  took  its  present  form  much  later  than  the 
event  it  celebrates.  But  it  is  full  of  the  joy  and  the 
exaltation  of  the  event. 

“The  Lord  is  my  strength  and  song, 

And  He  is  become  my  salvation; 

This  is  my  God,  and  I will  glorify  Him; 

My  father’s  God,  and  I will  exalt  Him. 

The  Lord  is  mighty  in  war, 

The  Lord  is  His  name. 

Pharaoh’s  chariots  and  his  host  hath  He  cast  into  the 
sea, 

And  his  chosen  captains  are  sunk  in  the  Red  Sea. 

The  deeps  cover  them  — 

They  went  down  into  the  depths  like  a stone. 

Thy  right  hand,  O Lord,  glorious  in  power, 

Thy  right  hand,  O Lord,  dasheth  in  pieces  the  enemy. 
And  in  the  greatness  of  Thine  excellency  Thou  over- 
throwest  them  that  rise  up  against  Thee; 

Thou  sendest  forth  Thy  wrath,  it  consumeth  them  as 
stubble. 

And  with  the  blast  of  Thy  nostrils  the  waters  were 
piled  up  — 

The  floods  stood  upright  as  a heap; 

The  deeps  were  congealed  in  the  heart  of  the  sea. 


The  War  Poetry  of  the  Bible 


121 


The  enemy  said: 

‘I  will  pursue,  I will  overtake,  I will  divide  the  spoil; 
My  lust  shall  be  satisfied  upon  them; 

I will  draw  my  sword,  my  hand  shall  destroy  them.* 
Thou  didst  blow  with  Thy  wind,  the  sea  covered  them; 
They  sank  as  lead  in  the  mighty  waters. 

Who  is  like  unto  Thee,  O Lord,  among  the  mighty? 
Who  is  like  unto  Thee,  glorious  in  holiness, 

Fearful  in  praises,  doing  wonders?” 

Even  more  exultant  and  more  dramatic  is  the 
Song  of  Deborah,  which  is  one  of  the  finest  war 
poems  ever  written.  For  patriotic  fervor,  for 
rhythm,  for  poetic  feeling,  for  vivid  description  of 
the  various  forces  and  factors  engaged  in  the  great 
battle,  it  is  unique,  and  throughout  it  there  vi- 
brates a personal  note  — that  of  Deborah,  the  hero- 
ine of  the  war.  From  the  ”ery  first  the  personal  note 
is  struck : 

“Hear,  O ye  kings;  give  ear,  of  ye  princes; 

I,  unto  the  Lord  will  I sing; 

I will  sing  praise  to  the  Lord,  the  God  of  Israel.” 

A reminiscence  of  the  glorious  past  follows: 

“ Lord,  when  Thou  didst  go  forth  out  of  Seir, 

When  Thou  didst  march  out  of  the  field  of  Edom, 

The  earth  trembled,  the  heavens  also  dropped, 

Yea,  the  clouds  dropped  water. 

The  mountains  quaked  at  the  presence  of  the  Lord, 
Even  yon  Sinai  at  the  presence  of  the  Lord,  the  God 
of  Israel.” 

What  a contrast  to  the  peril  of  the  present ! 


74 


The  War  and  the  Bible 


“ In  the  days  of  Shamgar  the  son  of  Anath, 

In  the  days  of  Jael,  the  highways  ceased, 

And  the  travelers  walked  through  byways. 

The  rulers  ceased  in  Israel,  they  ceased, 

Until  that  thou  didst  arise,  Deborah, 

That  thou  didst  arise  a mother  in  Israel. 

They  chose  new  gods; 

Then  was  war  in  the  gates; 

Was  there  a shield  or  spear  seen 
Among  forty  thousand  in  Israel?” 

But  fortunately,  the  people  have  proved  equal 
to  the  great  task  of  the  hour. 

“ My  heart  is  toward  the  governors  of  Israel, 

That  offered  themselves  willingly  among  the  people. 
Bless  ye  the  Lord ! 

Ye  that  ride  on  white  asses, 

Ye  that  sit  on  rich  cloths, 

And  ye  that  walk  by  the  way,  tell  of  it; 

Louder  than  the  voice  of  archers,  by  the  watering- 
trough! 

There  shall  they  rehearse  the  righteous  acts  of  the  Lord, 
Even  the  righteous  acts  of  His  rulers  in  Israel.” 

It  is  the  thought  of  the  courage  and  the  valor  of 
her  people  that  fills  the  poet-heroine  with  joy. 

“Awake,  awake,  Deborah; 

Awake,  awake,  utter  a song; 

Arise,  Barak,  and  lead  thy  captivity  captive,  thou  son 
of  Abinoam. 

Then  made  He  a remnant  to  have  dominion  over  the 
nobles  and  the  people; 

The  Lord  made  me  have  dominion  over  the  mighty. 
Out  of  Ephraim  came  they  whose  root  is  in  Amalek; 
After  thee,  Benjamin,  among  thy  peoples; 


The  War  Poetry  of  the  Bible 


75 


Out  of  Machir  came  down  governors, 

And  out  of  Zebulun  they  that  handle  the  marshal’s  staff, 
And  the  princes  of  Issachar  were  with  Deborah; 

As  was  Issachar,  so  was  Barak; 

Into  the  valley  they  rushed  forth  at  his  feet.” 

Of  course,  there  was  no  want  of  such  who  even 
in  that  supreme  hour  of  the  nation’s  crisis  shirked 
their  duty  — the  hollow,  the  selfish,  the  supine. 
They  are  not  forgotten. 

“Among  the  divisions  of  Reuben 
There  was  great  resolves  of  heart! 

Why  satest  thou  among  the  sheepfolds, 

To  hear  the  pipings  for  the  flocks? 

At  the  divisions  of  Reuben 

There  were  great  searchings  of  heart! 

Gilead  abode  beyond  the  Jordan; 

And  Dan,  why  doth  he  sojourn  by  the  ships? 

Asher  dwelt  at  the  shore  of  the  sea, 

And  abideth  by  its  bays.” 

So  much  the  more  glorious  the  conduct  of  others ! 

“Zebulun  is  a people  that  jeoparded  their  lives  unto  the 
death, 

And  Naphtali,  upon  the  high  places  of  the  field.” 

It  was  a mighty  battle,  in  which  many  kings  took 
part,  and  the  very  stars  and  streams  fought  on  the 
side  of  Deborah : 

“The  kings  came,  they  fought; 

Then  fought  the  kings  of  Canaan, 

In  Taanach  by  the  waters  of  Megiddo; 

They  took  no  gain  of  money. 

They  fought  from  heaven, 


7 6 


The  War  and  the  Bible 


The  stars  in  their  courses  fought  against  Sisera. 

The  brook  Kishon  swept  them  away, 

That  ancient  brook,  the  brook  Kishon. 

O my  soul,  tread  them  down  with  strength! 

Then  did  the  horsehoofs  stamp 

By  reason  of  the  prancings,  the  prancings  of  their 
mighty  ones.” 

Nor  shall  those  be  forgotten  who  in  so  perilous  an 
hour  for  Israel  either  kept  aloof  or  gave  no  help. 
There  was  Meroz: 

“ ‘ Curse  ye  Meroz,’  said  the  angel  of  the  Lord, 

‘ Curse  ye  bitterly  the  inhabitants  thereof, 

Because  they  came  not  to  the  help  of  the  Lord, 

To  the  help  of  the  Lord  against  the  mighty.’  ” 

But  think  of  Jael  the  Kenite: 

“Blessed  above  women  shall  Jael  be, 

The  wife  of  Heber  the  Kenite, 

Above  women  in  the  tent  shall  she  be  blessed. 

Water  he  asked,  milk  she  gave  him; 

In  a lordly  bowl  she  brought  him  curd. 

Her  hand  she  put  to  the  tent-pin, 

And  her  right  hand  to  the  workmen’s  hammer; 

And  with  the  hammer  she  smote  Sisera,  she  smote 
through  his  head, 

Yes,  she  pierced  and  struck  through  his  temples. 

At  her  feet  he  sunk,  he  fell,  he  lay; 

At  her  feet  he  sunk,  he  fell; 

Where  he  sunk,  there  he  fell  down  dead.” 

Sisera’s  fall,  and  the  disillusionment  of  his  people, 
is  dramatically  drawn  in  the  picture  of  his  mother 
waiting  for  his  return,  in  vain; 


The  War  Poetry  of  the  Bible 


77 


“ Through  the  window  she  looked  forth,  and  peered, 
The  mother  of  Sisera,  through  the  lattice: 

‘ Why  is  his  chariot  so  long  in  coming 
Why  tarry  the  wheels  of  his  chariots?* 

The  wisest  of  her  princesses  answer  her, 

Yea,  she  returneth  answer  to  herself: 

‘Are  they  not  finding,  are  they  not  dividing  the  spoil? 
A damsel,  two  damsels  to  every  man; 

To  Sisera  a spoil  of  dyed  garments, 

A spoil  of  dyed  garments  of  embroidery, 

Two  dyed  garments  of  broidery  for  the  neck  of  every 
spoiler?  ’ ” 

No  more  is  said  about  the  issue  of  her  waiting. 
The  final  note  explains  it : 

“So  perish  all  Thine  enemies,  O Lord; 

But  they  that  love  Him  be  as  the  sun  when  he  goeth 
forth  in  his  might.” 

Here  certainly  is  a poem,  both  martial  and  reli- 
gious, which  may  be  called  a lyrical  triumph. 

But  if  victory  inspired  the  lyre  of  Israel,  no  less 
did  defeat.  Indeed,  some  of  the  most  moving  poems 
of  the  Bible  are  those  that  sprang  up  after  the  de- 
struction of  the  kingdom  and  during  the  exile.  In 
them  is  voiced  the  physical  and  spiritual  suffering 
of  the  nation,  as  well  as  the  longing  for  restoration. 
They  sing  of  the  heroism  of  the  people  that  had 
proved  futile,  and  of  the  yearning  for  the  renewal 
of  the  Divine  Love. 

“O  God,  the  heathen  are  come  into  Thine  inheritance; 
They  have  defiled  Thy  holy  temple; 

They  have  made  Jerusalem  into  heaps. 


78  The  War  and  the  Bible 

They  have  given  the  dead  bodies  of  Thy  servants  to 
be  food  unto  the  fowls  of  the  heaven, 

The  flesh  of  Thy  saints  unto  the  beasts  of  the  earth. 

They  have  shed  their  blood  like  water 

Round  about  Jerusalem,  with  none  to  bury  them. 

We  are  become  a taunt  to  our  neighbors, 

A scorn  and  derision  to  them  that  are  round  about  us. 

“How  long,  O Lord,  wilt  Thou  be  angry  for  ever? 

How  long  will  Thy  jealousy  burn  like  fire? 

Pour  out  Thy  wrath  upon  the  nations  that  know  Thee 
not, 

And  upon  the  kingdoms  that  call  not  upon  Thy  name. 
For  they  have  devoured  Jacob, 

And  laid  waste  his  habitation. 

Remember  not  against  us  the  iniquities  of  our  fore- 
fathers ; 

Let  Thy  compassions  speedily  come  to  meet  us; 

For  we  are  brought  very  low. 

“ Help  us,  O God  of  our  salvation,  for  the  sake  of  the 
glory  of  Thy  name; 

And  deliver  us,  and  forgive  our  sins,  for  Thy  name’s 
sake. 

Wherefore  should  the  nations  say: 

‘ Where  is  their  God  ? ’ 

Let  the  avenging  of  Thy  servants’  blood  that  is  shed 
Be  made  known  among  the  nations  in  our  sight. 

“ O Lord  God  of  hosts, 

How  long  wilt  Thou  be  angry  against  the  prayer  of 
Thy  people? 

Thou  hast  fed  them  with  the  bread  of  tears, 

And  given  them  tears  to  drink  in  large  measure. 

Thou  makest  us  a strife  unto  our  neighbors; 

And  our  enemies  mock  as  they  please. 

O God  of  hosts,  restore  us; 

And  cause  Thy  face  to  shine,  and  we  shall  be  saved.” 


The  War  Poetry  of  the  Bible 


79 


When  we  think  of  the  suffering  of  Belgium  to- 
day, devastated  and  exiled,  we  can  understand  the 
full  meaning  of  such  poems  as  Psalms  Seventy-nine 
and  Eighty.  They  are  probably  later  than  Psalm 
One  Hundred  and  Thirty-seven.  They  are  more 
calm  than  the  outburst  of  suffering  and  revenge  con- 
tained in  the  latter,  but  there  is  profound  pathos  in 
their  beautiful  and  tender  lines. 

“Thou  didst  pluck  up  a vine  out  of  Egypt; 

Thou  didst  drive  out  the  nations,  and  didst  plant  it. 
Thou  didst  clear  a place  before  it, 

And  it  took  deep  root,  and  filled  the  land. 

The  mountains  were  covered  with  the  shadow  of  it, 
And  the  mighty  cedars  with  the  boughs  thereof. 

She  sent  out  her  branches  unto  the  sea, 

And  her  shoots  unto  the  River. 

Why  hast  Thou  broken  down  her  fences, 

So  that  all  they  that  pass  by  the  way  do  pluck  her? 
The  boar  out  of  the  wood  doth  ravage  it, 

That  which  moveth  in  the  field  feedeth  on  it. 

O God  of  hosts,  return,  we  beseech  Thee; 

Look  from  heaven,  and  behold,  and  be  mindful  of  this 
vine, 

And  of  the  stock  which  Thy  right  hand  hath  planted, 
And  the  branch  that  Thou  madest  strong  for  Thyself. 

It  is  burned  with  fire,  it  is  cut  down ; 

They  perish  at  the  rebuke  of  Thy  countenance. 

Let  Thy  hand  be  upon  the  man  of  Thy  right  hand, 
Upon  the  son  of  man  whom  Thou  madest  strong  for 
Thyself. 

So  shall  we  not  turn  back  from  Thee; 

Quicken  Thou  us,  and  we  will  call  upon  Thy  name. 

O Lord  God  of  hosts,  restore  us ; 

Cause  Thy  face  to  shine,  and  we  shall  be  saved.” 


8o 


The  War  and  the  Bible 


Among  the  finest  poetic  products  of  the  War  are 
the  personal  poems,  particularly  those  lamenting  the 
fall  of  young  heroes.  Such  songs  as  “ The  Spires  of 
Oxford,”  celebrating  the  joyous  courage  and  self- 
sacrifice  of  to-day’s  youth,  and  “ I Have  a Ren- 
dezvous with  Death,”  and  Robert  Nichols’s  elegies 
on  his  fallen  friends,  are  counted  among  the  fairest 
flowers  of  modern  poetry.  This  is  true  of  the  Bible, 
too.  No  war  poem  approaches  in  beauty  the  lament 
of  David  for  Saul  and  Jonathan  — one  of  Israel’s 
greatest  heroes  weeping  for  two  other  heroes  who 
fell  in  battle,  self-slain  for  the  honor  of  their  peo- 
ple. 

“Thy  beauty,  O Israel,  upon  thy  high  places  is  slain! 
How  are  the  mighty  fallen! 

Tell  it  not  in  Gath, 

Publish  it  not  in  the  streets  of  Ashkelon; 

Lest  the  daughters  of  the  Philistines  rejoice, 

Lest  the  daughters  of  the  uncircumcised  triumph. 

Ye  mountains  of  Gilboa, 

Let  there  be  no  dew  nor  rain  upon  you, 

Neither  fields  of  choice  fruits; 

For  there  the  shield  of  the  mighty  was  vilely  cast  away, 
The  shield  of  Saul,  not  anointed  with  oil. 

From  the  blood  of  the  slain,  from  the  fat  of  the  mighty, 
The  bow  of  Jonathan  turned  not  back, 

And  the  sword  of  Saul  returned  not  empty. 

Saul  and  Jonathan,  the  lovely  and  the  pleasant 
In  their  lives,  even  in  their  death  they  were  not  di- 
vided; 

They  were  swifter  than  eagles, 

They  were  stronger  than  lions. 

Ye  daughters  of  Israel,  weep  over  Saul, 


The  War  Poetry  of  the  Bible 


8l 


Who  clothed  you  in  scarlet,  with  other  delights, 

Who  put  ornaments  of  gold  upon  your  apparel. 

How  are  the  mighty  fallen  in  the  midst  of  the  battle! 

“Jonathan  upon  thy  high  places  is  slain! 

I am  distressed  for  thee,  my  brother  Jonathan; 

Very  pleasant  hast  thou  been  unto  me; 

Wonderful  was  thy  love  to  me, 

Passing  the  love  of  women. 

How  are  the  mighty  fallen, 

And  the  weapons  of  war  perished!” 


WAR  PRAYERS  IN  THE  BIBLE 


The  War  has  stimulated  interest  in  prayer.  Many 
people  who  never  prayed  before  have  now  taken 
to  praying.  Churches  have  fixed  special  days  of 
prayer  and  intercession.  In  so  far  as  prayer  is  an 
evidence  of  Religion,  one  might  well  say  that  the 
War  has  brought  about  a revival  of  Religion.  It 
certainly  has  revived  the  habit  of  prayer  in  many 
quarters. 

But  it  has,  also,  stirred  up  a great  deal  of  dis- 
cussion as  to  the  nature  and  value  of  prayer.  On 
the  one  hand,  people  are  asking  again  the  old  ques- 
tion as  to  the  efficacy  of  prayer.  Does  praying  do 
any  good?  Does  it  pay  to  pray?  Are  prayers  an- 
swered? At  a time  such  as  this,  these  questions 
cease  to  be  mere  academic  speculations.  The  aver- 
age person  is  vitally  interested  in  them.  The  things 
we  pray  for  now  are  of  immediate  and  vital  im- 
portance. Praying  is  no  mere  part  of  a decorous, 
well-ordered  service,  no  mere  item  of  liturgy.  Our 
prayers  for  the  safety  of  our  men,  for  the  triumph 
of  our  arms,  for  an  honorable  peace,  come  from  the 
heart,  they  are  part  of  our  inmost  being.  There- 
fore, it  is  natural  that  we  should  want  to  know 
whether  such  an  occupation  has  any  real  use,  and 
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War  Prayers  in  the  Bible  83 

whether  it  leads  to  anything.  On  the  other  hand, 
many  good  people  are  scandalized  by  the  strange 
sight  of  both  sides  praying  to  the  same  God.  It  is 
absurd  in  their  eyes  that  the  foe,  also,  should  pray 
to  God.  It  suggests  to  them  the  shallowness,  the 
futility,  or  the  queerness  of  all  prayer. 

In  considering  these  questions,  we  must  realize, 
first  of  all,  that  prayer  is  a normal  and  necessary 
part  of  all  Religion.  Wherever  there  is  Religion, 
there  will  be  prayer,  and  namely,  prayer  of  an  ex- 
pressed, spoken,  fervent  kind,  rather  than  the  vague, 
inaudible  sort  which  is  fashionable  among  those  to 
whom  Religion  is  an  aspect  of  Sociology  and  who 
say  they  can  pray  while  motoring  in  the  country, 
or  engaged  in  other  similar  forms  of  esthetic  re- 
ligiosity. Religion,  it  has  often  been  observed,  is  not 
merely  a belief  in  God;  it  is  belief  in  the  relation 
of  God  and  man.  Prayer  is  a means  of  forming  and 
maintaining  that  relationship.  It  is  the  bond  of  un- 
ion between  God  and  man.  Thus,  if  we  believe  in 
God,  if  we  believe  in  Religion,  the  natural  result 
will  be  a desire  for  prayer,  and  the  persistence  of 
prayer  under  all  circumstances,  however  difficult 
and  baffling. 

Of  course,  it  is  natural  for  us  to  want  an  answer 
to  our  prayers.  Expectation  of  Divine  favor  is  one 
of  the  foundations  of  prayer.  It  is  foolish  to  call 
this  merely  a primitive  conception  of  prayer.  An- 
thropologists may  prove  that  primitive  men  first 
prayed  because  they  wanted  something.  An  equally 


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The  War  and  the  Bible 


good  case  might  be  made  out  in  favor  of  the  sense 
of  awe  or  fear  as  the  origin  of  prayer.  The  fact  is 
that  in  this  respect  we  ourselves  are  as  primitivt  as 
the  most  primitive.  We  also  want  our  prayers  an- 
swered. In  our  case,  also,  this  is  one  of  the  elements 
of  prayer,  one  of  the  things  that  move  us  to  open  our 
lips  before  God.  Yet,  we  must  not  forget  that  this 
is  not  now,  nor  probably  ever  was,  the  whole  con- 
tent of  prayer. 

One  of  the  essential  parts  of  prayer  is  communion. 
We  want  to  commune,  to  converse,  with  God.  The 
difference  between  the  believer  and  the  unbeliever 
is  that  the  believer  feels  that  the  world  is  not  empty, 
that  there  is  a Spirit  within  it,  and  that  the  Spirit  is 
his  friend,  the  friend  of  man,  and  the  friend  of  all 
that  makes  for  the  goodness  and  the  gladness  of  the 
world.  That  is  the  inmost  feeling  of  the  believer. 
No  matter  what  may  happen  against  it,  this  feeling 
remains  deeply  rooted  in  his  heart.  With  this  Friend, 
this  Spirit,  it  is  natural  for  him  to  wish  to  converse, 
to  commune,  to  consider  things.  It  is  converse  that 
counts  for  most  among  friends.  When  there  is 
something  on  our  heart  or  mind,  we  are  fortunate 
to  have  a friend  to  whom  we  can  tell  it  all,  and 
who  will  give  us  sympathy.  Our  friend  may  not 
be  able  to  help  us,  or  even  to  advise  us,  he  may  not 
divulge  to  us  what  is  going  on  in  his  mind  while 
listening,  but  by  hearing  us,  he  has  served  us.  Thus, 
communion  is  an  essential  part  of  our  prayer.  Such 
as  we  are,  we  want  to  talk  with  God,  to  tell  our 


War  Prayers  in  the  Bible 


85 


needs  in  Hi s hearing,  to  feel  that  we  have  His  sym- 
pathy, that  He  is  with  us,  on  our  side.  This  is  why 
in  time  of  war,  our  prayers  are  prone  to  grow  more 
frequent  and  fervid  than  in  normal  times. 

That  is,  however,  where  the  question  arises  as  to 
whether  we  are  on  God’s  side.  Are  we  on  His  side? 
This  is  the  crucial  question.  God  is  on  the  side  of 
all  that  makes  for  the  goodness  and  the  gladness  of 
the  world.  This  is  our  belief.  Are  we  on  the  same 
side?  When  we  pray,  are  we  sure  we  speak  the  true 
language  of  prayer  ? Is  there  a common  language  be- 
tween God  and  ourselves?  Now,  in  prayer  nothing 
is  so  vital  as  sincerity,  single-mindedness.  We  dare 
not  pray  to  God  and  stand  in  the  world  for  the 
things  He  hates  and  opposes.  Ruskin  used  to  lay 
stress  on  this  truth.  But  Ruskin  got  it  from  the 
Bible.  Throughout  the  Bible  there  runs  this  con- 
demnation of  double-minded  prayer,  false  fervor, 
“ strange  fire.”  Cain’s  sacrifice  was  not  accepted. 
There  was  murder  in  his  heart.  “ When  ye  come 
to  appear  before  Me,”  says  the  Lord  in  Isaiah,  “ who 
hath  requested  this  at  your  hand,  to  tread  My 
courts?  When  ye  spread  forth  your  hands,  I will 
hide  mine  eyes  from  you:  yea,  when  ye  make  many 
prayers,  I will  not  hear:  your  hands  are  full  of 
blood ! ” “ He  that  turneth  his  ear  away  from  in- 
struction,” adds  the  sage,  “ his  prayer  also  is  an 
abomination ! ” Thus,  the  Bible  defines  the  pre- 
requisite of  prayer  — the  difference  between  true 
and  false  prayer,  and  it  should  help  us  to  differ- 


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The  War  and  the  Bible 


entiate  to-day  between  prayers.  Of  course,  the  Ger- 
man has  a right  to  pray,  and  to  pray  to  our  own 
God.  The  question  is,  however,  as  to  the  spirit  in 
which  he  prays  — is  it  in  a spirit  making  for  the 
goodness  and  the  gladness  of  the  world,  or  is  it  in  a 
spirit  making  for  slaughter  and  conquest?  There 
lies  the  true  test  of  prayer.  Le  meilleur  creuset  cest 
l esprit  — says  Buffon:  “ the  best  test  is  the  spirit.” 

“ Lord,  our  God ! to  whom  from  clay, 

Blood  and  mire,  Thy  peoples  pray  — 

Not  from  Thy  cathedral’s  stair 

Thou  hearest:  — Thou  criest  through  our  prayer 

For  our  prayer  is  but  the  gate: 

We,  who  pray,  ourselves  are  fate!” 

The  different  expressions  of  the  spirit  of  prayer  in 
wartime  we  find  in  the  Bible. 

First,  we  have  the  prayer  for  victory.  A good 
example  we  find  at  the  time  of  the  first  war  the 
Israelites  were  forced  to  wage  upon  their  emerg- 
ence from  Egypt.  During  the  fight  with  Amalek, 
we  are  told,  Moses,  with  Aaron  and  Hur,  stood  on 
top  of  a hill  overlooking  the  battlefield.  Moses 
raised  his  hands  in  prayer.  While  his  hands  were 
up,  Israel  prevailed.  The  rabbis  rejected  the  idea 
that  the  mere  raising  of  the  hands  of  Moses  caused 
the  Israelites  to  prevail  while  his  letting  them  fall, 
caused  them  to  succumb.  It  means  rather,  they  said, 
that  the  Israelites,  seeing  the  uplifted  hands  of  the 
Prophet,  thought  of  the  Lord,  and  felt  fortified. 
In  other  words,  the  prayer  of  the  Prophet  on  the 


War  Prayers  in  the  Bible 


87 


heights  was  an  inspiration  to  those  fighting  down 
below,  under  the  leadership  of  Joshua.  The  He- 
brew text  is  very  suggestive.  It  runs:  Wayehi  ya- 
daw  emunah.  “ His  hands  w7ere  steady.”  A more 
literal  translation  of  this  difficult  phrase,  however, 
would  read:  “His  hands  were  faith.”  In  other 
words,  “ his  hands  were  a symbol  of  faith  until 
the  sun  set.”  It  is  an  indication  of  the  genius  of 
Israel,  that  in  Hebrew  the  same  word  is  used  for 
steadfastness  and  faith.  Another  good  example  of 
this  kind  of  prayer  we  have  in  the  case  of  King 
Hezekiah,  when  threatened  and  taunted  by  the  As- 
syrian conqueror.  There,  too,  prayer  was  a source 
of  inspiration  and  an  incentive  to  faith,  reflected 
both  in  the  supplication  of  Hezekiah  and  in  Isaiah’s 
invective  against  Sennacherib. 

“And  Hezekiah  prayed  before  the  Lord,  and  said:  ‘O 
Lord,  the  God  of  Israel,  that  sittest  upon  the  cherubim, 
Thou  art  the  God,  even  Thou  alone,  of  all  the  kingdoms 
of  the  earth;  Thou  hast  made  heaven  and  earth.  Incline 
Thine  ear,  O Lord,  and  hear;  open  Thine  eyes,  O Lord, 
and  see;  and  hear  the  words  of  Sennacherib,  wherewith 
he  hath  sent  him  to  taunt  the  living  God.  Of  a truth, 
Lord,  the  kings  of  Assyria  have  laid  waste  the  nations 
and  their  lands,  and  have  cast  their  gods  into  the  fire; 
for  they  were  no  gods,  but  the  work  of  men’s  hands, 
wood  and  stone ; therefore  they  have  destroyed  them. 
Now  therefore,  O Lord  our  God,  save  Thou  us,  I beseech 
Thee,  out  of  his  hand,  that  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  earth 
may  know  that  Thou  art  the  Lord  God,  even  Thou  only.’ 

“ Then  Isaiah  the  son  of  Amoz  sent  to  Hezekiah  say- 
ing: ‘Thus  saith  the  Lord,  the  God  of  Israel:  Whereas 


88 


The  War  and  the  Bible 


thou  hast  prayed  to  Me  against  Sennacherib  king  of  As- 
syria, I have  heard  thee.  This  is  the  word  that  the  Lord 
hath  spoken  concerning  him: 

The  virgin  daughter  of  Zion 

Hath  despised  thee  and  laughed  thee  to  scorn; 

The  daughter  of  Jerusalem 
Hath  shaken  her  head  at  thee. 

Whom  hast  thou  taunted  and  blasphemed? 

And  against  whom  hast  thou  exalted  thy  voice? 

Yea,  thou  hast  lifted  up  thine  eyes  on  high, 

Even  against  the  Holy  One  of  Israel! 

By  thy  messengers  thou  hast  taunted  the  Lord, 

And  hast  said:  With  the  multitude  of  my  chariots 
Am  I come  up  to  the  height  of  the  mountains, 

To  the  innermost  parts  of  Lebanon; 

And  I have  cut  down  the  tall  cedars  thereof, 

And  the  choice  cypresses  thereof; 

And  I have  entered  into  his  farthest  lodge, 

The  forest  of  his  fruitful  field. 

I have  digged  and  drunk 
Strange  waters, 

And  with  the  sole  of  my  feet  have  I dried  up 
All  the  rivers  of  Egypt. 

Hast  thou  not  heard? 

Long  ago  I made  it, 

In  ancient  times  I fashioned  it; 

Now  have  I brought  it  to  pass, 

Yea,  it  is  done;  that  fortified  cities 
Should  be  laid  waste  into  ruinous  heaps. 

Therefore  their  inhabitants  were  of  small  power, 

They  were  dismayed  and  confounded; 

They  were  as  the  grass  of  the  field, 

And  as  the  green  herb, 

As  the  grass  on  the  housetops, 

And  as  corn  blasted  before  it  is  grown  up. 


War  Prayers  in  the  Bible  89 

But  I know  thy  sitting  down,  and  thy  going  out,  and 
thy  coming  in, 

And  thy  raging  against  Me. 

Because  of  thy  raging  against  Me, 

And  for  that  thy  tumult  is  come  up  into  Mine  ears, 
Therefore  will  I put  My  hook  in  thy  nose, 

And  My  bridle  in  thy  lips, 

And  I will  turn  thee  back  by  the  way 
By  which  thou  earnest.’  ” 

Then,  we  have  in  the  Bible  the  prayer  of  coun- 
sel. Again  and  again  the  men  of  the  Bible,  con- 
fronted by  war,  turn  to  God  for  counsel  as  to  what 
to  do.  When  the  Egyptians  pursue  the  Israelites, 
Moses  turns  to  God.  “ Why  criest  thou  to  Me,” 
says  the  Lord,  “ say  unto  the  children  of  Israel  that 
they  shall  go  forward.”  David  consults  God  as  to 
whether  he  shall  go  forth  against  the  Philistines. 

“And  they  told  David,  saying:  ‘Behold,  the  Philistines 
are  fighting  against  Keilah,  and  they  rob  the  threshing- 
floors.’  Therefore  David  inquired  of  the  Lord,  saying: 
‘Shall  I go  and  smite  these  Philistines?’  And  the  Lord 
said  unto  David:  ‘ Go,  and  smite  the  Philistines,  and  save 
Keilah.’  And  David’s  men  said  unto  him:  ‘Behold,  we 
are  afrad  here  in  Judah;  how  much  more  then  if  we  go 
to  Keilah  against  the  armies  of  the  Philistines?’  Then 
David  inquired  of  the  Lord  yet  again.  And  the  Lord  an- 
swered him  and  said:  ‘Arise,  go  down  to  Keilah;  for  I 
will  deliver  the  Philistines  into  thy  hand.’  And  David 
and  his  men  went  to  Keilah,  and  fought  with  the  Philis- 
tines, and  brought  away  their  cattle,  and  slew  them  with 
a great  slaughter.  So  David  saved  the  inhabitants  of 
Keilah.” 


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The  War  and  the  Bible 


Ahab  and  Jehoshaphat  inquire  of  God  about  going 
to  war  against  Syria.  There,  again,  we  may  be 
tempted  to  see  traces  of  a primitive  custom.  But  it 
was  also  the  expression  of  a sentiment  which  in 
course  of  time  became  very  important.  It  expressed 
the  desire  of  Israel  to  make  sure  that  the  war  in 
question  was  such  as  God  might  approve.  As  God 
was  righteous,  however,  a war  approved  by  Him 
must  be  for  a righteous  cause.  That  is  how  the 
Prophets  gradually  came  to  play  a paramount  part 
in  the  political  life  of  the  people,  and  particularly 
in  time  of  war.  If  we  turn  to  God  for  counsel  in 
war-time,  we  must  make  sure  our  war  is  righteous 
and  conducted  righteously. 

Finally,  we  have  the  prayers  of  praise  and  adora- 
tion which  were  composed  as  a result  of  the  wars 
of  the  people.  Many  of  the  Psalms  belong  to  this 
class.  They  are  full  of  the  spirit  of  thanksgiving 
and  trust,  both  in  time  of  triumph  and  defeat,  and 
as  such  have  become  the  pattern  for  all  ages  passing 
through  similar  experience.  In  the  twentieth  Psalm, 
for  instance,  we  see  the  people  send  their  king  to 
battle  with  prayers  for  victory. 

“ The  Lord  answer  thee  in  the  day  of  trouble ; 

The  name  of  the  God  of  Jacob  set  thee  up  on  high; 
Send  forth  thy  help  from  the  sanctuary, 

And  support  thee  out  of  Zion; 

Receive  the  memorial  of  all  thy  meal-offerings, 

And  accept  the  fat  of  thy  burnt-sacrifice; 

Grant  thee  according  to  thine  own  heart, 

And  fulfill  all  thy  counsel. 


War  Prayers  in  the  Bible 


91 


We  will  shout  for  joy  in  thy  victory, 

And  in  the  name  of  our  God  we  will  set  up  our  stand- 
ards; 

The  Lord  fulfill  all  thy  petitions. 

“Some  trust  in  chariots,  and  some  in  horses; 

But  we  will  make  mention  of  the  name  of  the  Lord  our 
God. 

They  are  bowed  down  and  fallen; 

But  we  are  risen,  and  stand  upright. 

Save,  Lord; 

Let  the  King  answer  us  in  the  day  that  we  call.” 

In  the  next  Psalm,  the  king  has  returned  victorious, 
and  we  hear  the  voice  of  praise  and  thanksgiving. 

“O  Lord,  in  Thy  strength  the  king  rejoiceth; 

And  in  Thy  salvation  how  greatly  doth  he  exult! 

Thou  hast  given  him  his  heart’s  desire, 

And  the  request  of  his  lips  Thou  hast  not  withholden. 
For  Thou  meetest  him  with  choicest  blessings; 

Thou  settest  a crown  of  fine  gold  on  his  head. 

He  asked  life  of  Thee,  Thou  gavest  it  him; 

Even  length  of  days  for  ever  and  ever. 

His  glory  is  great  through  Thy  salvation; 

Honor  and  majesty  dost  Thou  lay  upon  him. 

For  Thou  makest  him  most  blessed  for  ever; 

Thou  makest  him  glad  with  joy  in  Thy  presence. 

For  the  king  trusteth  in  the  Lord, 

Yea,  in  the  mercy  of  the  Most  High;  he  shall  not  be 
moved.” 


PARALLELS  TO  THE  WAR  IN  THE 
BIBLE 


We  do  not  at  present  take  up  a subject  like  the 
Bible  and  War  as  a mere  academic  pursuit.  If  ever 
we  turned  to  the  Bible  for  practical  purposes,  for 
guidance  and  help,  it  is  now.  “ History  is  not  a 
burden  on  memory,”  says  Lord  Acton,  “ it  is  an 
illumination  of  the  soul.”  We  go  to  the  Bible  at 
present  for  counsel  on  the  subject  of  war,  for  help 
in  interpreting  its  meaning,  and  for  light  on  the  fu- 
ture, insofar  as  it  may  be  given  us  to  foresee  the 
future. 

First  of  all,  does  the  Bible  help  us  to  an  answer 
as  to  what  the  attitude  of  religious  people  should  be 
toward  war?  In  this  regard,  the  answer  of  the  Bible 
certainly  is  clear.  When  war  has  come,  and  threat- 
ens the  security  of  one’s  country,  it  is  one’s  duty  to 
join  in  the  fight  for  its  defense.  Throughout  the 
Bible  we  have  evidence  of  this  conviction.  Shirk- 
ing or  cowardice  is  never  condoned.  When  upon 
the  shore  of  the  Red  Sea,  the  Israelites  find  them- 
selves pursued  by  the  relentless  foe,  and  begin  to 
cry  aloud  their  fears  and  regrets,  “ Why  criest  thou 
unto  Me  ? ” says  the  Lord,  “ tell  the  children  of 
Israel  to  go  forward ! ” Thus,  at  the  very  begin- 
92 


Parallels  to  the  IVar  in  the  Bible  93 

ning  of  their  history  the  Israelites  are  taught  the 
lesson  of  progress,  and  of  the  courage  and  intrepid- 
ity it  demands, — the  capacity,  the  readiness,  for 
combat.  Many  are  the  occasions  in  the  subsequent 
development  of  Israel’s  history  when  this  lesson  is 
repeated.  They  have  to  fight  the  Amalekites,  they 
have  to  fight  the  Amorites,  and  the  Philistines,  and 
many  another  foe  in  order  to  establish  themselves 
and  to  defend  home  and  hearth.  Do  we  ever  find 
exemption  from  the  fight  for  religious  reasons  ? 
Never.  They  are  exempted  for  humane  reasons,  or 
for  military  reasons  — the  faint-hearted  and  the 
weak-kneed  are  not  allowed  to  join  in  the  battle; 
the  priests  are  exempted  because  of  their  office  and 
ritual  regulations:  but  for  religious  reasons  no  ex- 
emption is  mentioned.  Of  course,  there  are  shirk- 
ers and  cowards ; but  they  are  held  up  to  execration 
by  such  a prophetic  leader  as  Deborah.  Indeed,  those 
who  have  already  come  into  possession  of  their  own 
inheritance,  the  Reubenites,  the  Gadites,  and  the 
half-tribe  of  Manasseh,  are  made  to  feel  their  duty 
not  to  settle  down  to  its  enjoyment  until  they  have 
helped  their  brethren  to  secure  their  portion. 

“Your  wives,  your  little  ones,  and  your  cattle,  shall 
abide  in  the  land  which  Moses  gave  you  beyond  the 
Jordan;  but  ye  shall  pass  over  before  your  brethren 
armed,  all  the  mighty  men  of  valor,  and  shall  help  them; 
until  the  Lord  have  given  your  brethren  rest,  as  unto  you, 
and  they  also  have  possessed  the  land  which  the  Lord 
your  God  giveth  them;  then  ye  shall  return  unto  the  land 
of  your  possession,  and  possess  it.” 


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The  War  and  the  Bible 


The  duty  of  every  man  to  help  in  the  national  de- 
fense was  so  generally  accepted,  that  from  the  time 
of  David  on  every  man  of  over  twenty  years  was 
subject  for  military  service,  and  an  elaborate  mili- 
tary organization  was  maintained.  Many  were  the 
military  heroes  Israel  produced,  as  we  may  judge 
from  the  books  of  Joshua  and  Judges  and  from  such 
a fragmentary  account  of  heroic  exploits  as  is  con- 
tained in  II  Samuel  23.  To  represent  the  Bible  as 
opposed  to  war  on  principle,  is  to  ignore  its  con- 
tents. 

Here  we  have  the  first  parallel  to  present  condi- 
tions. Howsoever  we  may  dislike  war,  howsoever 
we  may  have  opposed  its  coming  and  may  have  been 
associated  with  all  those  ideals  of  civilization  which 
aimed  to  prevent  war,  once  the  war  came,  involving 
the  safety  of  our  country  and  the  future  of  civiliza- 
tion, our  individual  duty  became  clear.  It  is  futile 
to  say  Religion  is  opposed  to  war.  Religion  does 
not  exempt  us  from  the  common  duty,  and  the  first 
lesson  it  teaches  is  self-sacrifice  for  the  common 
good,  no  matter  how  hard  and  costly  it  might  be, 
and  no  matter  how  much  it  might  conflict  with  our 
ideal  construction  of  the  world  as  it  ought  to  be. 

Indeed,  it  is  here  that  we  have  one  of  the  chief 
points  of  contact  between  Religion  and  Patriotism. 
In  both  there  is  what  we  might  call  a mystic  ele- 
ment. We  cannot  reason  about  all  that  is  comprised 
in  religion.  Much  of  it  is  born  of  sentiment,  nour- 
ished by  the  heart.  “ The  heart  has  its  reasons,” 


Parallels  to  the  War  in  the  Bible  95 


Pascal  has  said,  “ that  reason  knows  nothing  of.” 
Patriotism  is  founded  on  similar  ground.  We  do 
not  reason  about  all  the  promptings  of  patriotism. 
Here,  too,  the  heart  has  its  own  reasons.  Patriot- 
ism has  its  mystical  side.  Some  of  the  world’s  most 
renowned  patriots  were  mystics:  Joan  of  Arc,  Crom- 
well, Mazzini,  Lincoln.  From  mystic  founts,  about 
which  he  does  not  stop  to  reason,  flows  the  patriot’s 
devotion  — his  eagerness  to  dare  and  to  do,  to  fight 
and  to  die,  when  his  country  once  has  called  to  the 
deeps  of  his  soul. 

But  there  is  one  thing  that  men  seek  above  all 
others,  and  that  is  an  explanation  of  the  place  of 
war  in  the  divine  economy.  Why  does  God  allow 
war?  How  can  we  reconcile  it  with  Divine  Provi- 
dence, or  with  Divine  goodness?  Here  again  the 
answer  of  the  Bible  is  clear.  It  may  seem  hard  to 
us,  but  it  is  clear.  The  Bible  regards  war  as  a re- 
sult of  human  imperfection,  of  the  lack  of  Righteous- 
ness, as  a consequence  of  the  evil  rampant  among 
men.  In  brief,  war  is  punishment.  Punishment,  as 
I have  said  before,  is  a word  we  do  not  relish. 
Least  of  all  we  liked  it  before  the  war.  It  was  con- 
sidered not  quite  civilized  to  speak  of  punishment, 
to  mention  it  in  connection  with  religion  or  educa- 
tion, or  in  any  other  department  of  life.  It  was 
anathema  to  the  sociologists.  Advanced  thinkers 
used  to  hold  it  distinctly  against  the  Old  Testa- 
ment that  there  is  so  much  in  its  pages  concerning 
punishment.  None  the  less,  we  know  that  a law  of 


9 6 


The  War  and  the  Bible 


punishment  does  prevail  in  the  world,  no  matter 
by  what  name  we  may  call  it.  We  may  sugar-coat 
it  with  pretty  phrases,  but  escape  it  we  cannot.  The 
war  has  taught  us  to  face  this  fact  without  blinders, 
and  to  accept  it.  Of  course,  punishment  means  suf- 
fering. It  means  suffering  all  round.  It  means  suf- 
fering for  God,  as  well  as  for  His  creatures.  It  re- 
quired neither  Professor  Royce  nor  Mr.  Wells  to 
discover  the  idea  that  God  suffers  when  the  world 
suffers.  We  have  it  in  the  old  Jewish  teachings. 
God  suffers  with  His  people.  When  it  is  beaten,  He 
suffers.  When  it  is  carried  captive,  He  suffers.  He 
goes  into  exile  with  it,  according  to  the  Rabbis. 
This  is  the  meaning  of  the  Divine  Sympathy,  the 
Divine  Compassion.  Yet,  punishment  and  suffering 
are  inevitable,  if  the  moral  character  of  the  world 
is  to  prevail.  War  is  a means  to  that  end.  Its  hor- 
ror, its  slaughter,  its  misery  — all  is  because  of  the 
iniquity  of  the  world.  This  is  the  way  war  is  in- 
terpreted in  the  Bible.  The  Canaanites  are  de- 
stroyed because  of  their  evil  deeds  and  abominations. 
The  same  is  true  of  other  peoples,  including  Egypt 
and  Babylon  and  Tyre,  and  of  Israel  himself.  Often 
the  innocent  suffer  with  the  guilty.  This  is  part  of 
the  law  of  life.  We  are  all  involved  together.  God 
suffers  with  us.  But  the  sword  is  the  symbol  of  the 
moral  law,  of  the  Divine  Law  of  Righteousness, 
asserting  itself  and  advancing  in  the  world. 

“Therefore  thus  saith  the  Lord  God:  Because  ye  have 
made  your  iniquity  to  be  remembered,  in  that  your  trans- 


Parallels  to  the  War  in  the  Bible  97 


gressions  are  uncovered,  so  that  your  sins  do  appear  in 
all  your  doings;  because  that  ye  are  come  to  remem- 
brance, ye  shall  be  taken  with  the  hand.” 

“A  sword,  a sword,  it  is  sharpened, 

And  also  furbished: 

It  is  sharpened  that  it  may  make  a sore  slaughter, 

It  is  furbished  that  it  may  glitter  — 

Or  shall  we  make  mirth?  — 

Against  the  rod  of  My  son,  contemning  every  tree. 

And  it  is  given  to  be  furbished, 

That  it  may  be  handled; 

The  sword,  it  is  sharpened, 

Yea,  it  is  furbished, 

To  give  it  into  the  hand  of  the  slayer.” 

This  brings  us  to  the  core  of  the  whole  religious 
problem.  What  do  we  mean  by  the  word  God? 
We  mean  the  Spirit  that  fills  the  world,  the  Spirit 
at  work  in  the  world,  at  work  in  all  creation,  in- 
cluding man,  a Spirit  moral  in  character  and  seek- 
ing to  maintain  the  moral  law  in  the  world.  It  is 
this  Spirit  we  think  of  when  we  speak  of  God. 

“ Lift  up  your  eyes  on  high, 

And  see:  who  hath  created  these? 

He  that  bringeth  out  their  host  by  number, 

He  calleth  them  all  by  name; 

By  the  greatness  of  His  might,  and  for  that  He  is 
strong  in  power, 

Not  one  faileth.” 

It  may  sound  harsh  to  apply  the  biblical  explana- 
tion of  war  to  the  terrible  tragedy  of  to-day.  Yet, 
who  can  deny  the  world’s  imperfections  before  the 
War?  Who  can  ignore  the  many  ways  in  which 


98 


The  War  and  the  Bible 


the  world  fell  short  of  the  ethical  and  spiritual 
ideal?  Those  who  used  to  point  out  the  errors  and 
evils  of  our  civilization  were  ridiculed.  We  had 
come  to  worship  money,  comfort,  and  commerce. 
Nietzsche’s  teaching  about  the  superman,  in  its 
basest  form,  was  adopted  not  only  in  Germany,  but 
elsewhere  too.  The  world  was  full  of  Nietzscheites, 
the  core  of  whose  creed  was  egoism.  Self-expression 
had  become  the  universal  shibboleth,  and  what  it 
really  stood  for  was  self-indulgence.  No  war  ever 
produced  such  an  enormous  amount  of  heroism,  of 
service,  and  of  self-sacrifice  as  the  present  — none 
has  cost  so  much.  But  how  much  of  this  nobility  of 
service  and  sacrifice  were  we  willing  to  show  before 
the  War  in  order  to  promote  the  ideal  ends  of 
mankind?  As  we  think  of  these  things,  we  cannot 
help  realizing  that  the  biblical  explanation  of  war 
is  not  yet  effete  altogether. 

“For  wickedness  burneth  as  the  fire; 

It  devoureth  the  briers  and  thorns; 

Yea,  it  kindleth  in  the  thickets  of  the  forest, 

And  they  roll  upward  in  thick  clouds  of  smoke. 

Through  the  wrath  of  the  Lord  of  hosts  is  the  land 
burnt  up; 

The  people  also  are  as  the  fuel  of  fire; 

No  man  spareth  his  brother.” 

The  Bible,  however,  goes  further  than  this.  Mili- 
tary triumph,  it  adds,  does  not  mean  necessarily 
Divine  approval.  It  certainly  does  not  mean  per- 
manent success.  Time  and  again  Providence  may 


Parallels  to  the  War  in  the  Bible  99 


employ  a nation  for  its  own  ends  and  purposes.  It 
may  use  it  as  a means  of  vindicating  the  law  of 
Righteousness  in  the  world.  But  if  the  conquering 
nation  is  itself  working  against  the  Law  of  Right- 
eousness, its  triumph  shall  be  of  but  short  dura- 
tion. Assyria,  for  example,  is  employed  for  the 
chastisement  of  God’s  own  people,  Israel. 

“ O Asshur,  the  rod  of  Mine  anger, 

In  whose  hand  as  a staff  is  Mine  indignation! 

I do  send  him  against  an  ungodly  nation, 

And  against  the  people  of  My  wrath  do  I give  him  a 
charge, 

To  take  the  spoil,  and  to  take  the  prey, 

And  to  tread  them  down  like  the  mire  of  the  streets.” 

But  the  Assyrian  misconstrues  his  mission. 

“ Howbeit  he  meaneth  not  so, 

Neither  doth  his  heart  think  so; 

But  it  is  in  his  heart  to  destroy, 

And  to  cut  off  nations  not  a few.” 

He  is  puffed-up  with  success. 

“ For  he  saith : 

‘Are  not  my  princes  all  of  them  kings? 

Is  not  Calno  as  Carchemish? 

Is  not  Hamath  as  Arpad? 

Is  not  Samaria  as  Damascus? 

As  my  hand  hath  reached  the  kingdoms  of  the  idols, 
Whose  graven  images  did  exceed  them  of  Jerusalem 
and  of  Samaria; 

Shall  I not,  as  I have  done  unto  Samaria  and  her  idols, 
So  do  to  Jerusalem  and  her  idols ?’” 


IOO 


The  War  and  the  Bible 


He  boasts  of  his  achievements  and  the  havoc  he  has 
wrought  among  the  nations. 

“By  the  strength  of  my  hand  I have  done  it, 

And  by  my  wisdom,  for  I am  prudent; 

In  that  I have  removed  the  bounds  of  the  peoples, 

And  have  robbed  their  treasures, 

And  have  brought  down  as  one  mighty  the  inhabitants; 
And  my  hand  hath  found  as  a nest  the  riches  of  the 
peoples; 

And  as  one  gathereth  eggs  that  are  forsaken, 

Have  I gathered  all  the  earth; 

And  there  was  none  that  moved  the  wing, 

Or  that  opened  the  mouth,  or  chirped.” 

He  does  not  realize  that  he  is  merely  an  instrument. 

“ Should  the  axe  boast  itself  against  him  that  heweth 
therewith  ? 

Should  the  saw  magnify  itself  against  him  that  moveth 
it? 

As  if  a rod  should  move  them  that  lift  it  up, 

Or  as  if  a staff  should  lift  up  him  that  is  not  wood.” 

His  punishment  is  sure  to  come. 

“Therefore  will  the  Lord,  the  Lord  of  hosts, 

Send  among  his  fat  ones  leanness; 

And  under  His  glory  there  shall  be  kindled 
A burning  like  the  burning  of  fire. 

And  his  Holy  One  for  a flame; 

And  it  shall  burn  and  devour  his  thorns 
And  his  briers  in  one  day. 

And  the  glory  of  his  forest  and  of  his  fruitful  field, 
He  will  consume  both  soul  and  body; 

And  it  shall  be  as  when  a sick  man  wasteth  away. 
And  the  remnant  of  the  trees  of  his  forest  shall  be  few, 
That  a child  may  write  them  down.” 


Parallels  to  the  War  in  the  Bible  IOI 


Egypt,  Tyre,  Assyria,  Babylon,  Israel  — each  in 
turn  falls  because  of  egoism,  arrogance,  and  iniquity. 
The  sword  is  dashed  from  the  hand  of  each  because 
of  its  defilement  — the  very  sword  once  used  as  a 
weapon  in  the  hand  of  God. 

“ O sword,  O sword  keen-edged, 

Furbished  for  the  slaughter, 

To  the  uttermost,  because  of  the  gliterings; 

While  they  see  falsehood  unto  thee, 

While  they  divine  lies  unto  thee, 

To  lay  thee  upon  the  necks  of  the  wicked  that  are  to 
be  slain, 

Whose  day  is  come,  in  the  time  of  the  iniquity  of  the 
end ! — 

Cause  it  to  return  into  its  sheath!  — 

In  the  place  where  thou  wast  created,  in  the  land  of 
thine  origin, 

Will  I judge  thee. 

And  I will  pour  out  Mine  indignation  upon  thee, 

I will  blow  upon  thee  with  the  fire  of  My  wrath; 

And  I will  deliver  thee  into  the  hand  of  brutish  men, 
Skillful  to  destroy. 

Thou  shalt  be  for  fuel  to  the  fire; 

Thy  blood  shall  be  in  the  midst  of  the  land, 

Thou  shalt  be  no  more  remembered; 

For  I the  Lord  have  spoken  it.” 

Here,  again,  we  have  a most  significant  parallel  to 
present  conditions.  For  what  purpose  Providence  is 
using  the  sword  of  the  Germans,  we  cannot  tell. 
But  this  is  certain,  that  no  matter  how  many  its 
victories,  it  will  be  thrust  back  into  its  sheath,  and 
shattered,  because  it  has  served  to  fill  its  owners 


102 


The  War  and  the  Bible 


with  conceit,  arrogance,  and  cruelty  — to  make  them 
drunk  with  power.  The  day  of  reckoning  must  come 
for  the  furious  military  power  of  to-day,  as  it  never 
failed  to  come  to  its  predecessors,  and  when  it  has 
come,  it  will  mean  a step  forward  for  the  cause  of 
Righteousness  in  the  world. 

“ I will  break  Asshur  in  My  land, 

And  upon  My  mountains  tread  him  under  foot; 

Then  shall  his  yoke  depart  from  off  them, 

And  his  burden  depart  from  off  their  shoulder. 

This  is  the  purpose  that  is  purposed  upon  the  whole 
earth; 

And  this  is  the  hand  that  is  stretched  out  upon  all  the 
nations. 

For  the  Lord  of  hosts  hath  purposed, 

And  who  shall  disannul  it 
And  his  hand  is  stretched  out, 

And  who  shall  turn  it  back?” 


THE  PEACE  IDEAL  OF  THE  BIBLE 


The  invariable  sequel  of  war  has  been  a longing 
for  durable  peace.  It  is  part  of  the  rhythm  of  life. 
In  the  wake  of  great  wars  have  followed  projects 
for  the  abolition  or  prevention  of  war.  The  clas- 
sical proposals  of  permanent  peace,  as  those  of  Wil- 
liam Penn  and  Immanuel  Kant,  originated  in  pe- 
riods of  terrible  wars.  To-day  we  witness  a similar 
scene.  The  very  unexampled  magnitude  of  the  war, 
with  its  horrors  and  sacrifices,  has  served  once  more 
to  reveal  the  horror  of  war,  and  to  revive  the  ideal 
of  perpetual  peace.  The  noblest  leaders  of  the  age 
are  hoping  that  the  termination  of  the  War  will  be 
such  as  to  advance  the  cause  of  durable  peace,  and 
that  that  may  be  one  of  the  ends  for  which  Amer- 
ica and  the  Allies  are  shedding  their  blood.  We 
hope  for  durable  peace  not  because  we  are  afraid 
to  fight,  nor  because  we  fear  or  grudge  the  sacri- 
fices of  war,  but  because  we  realize  that  if  human 
life  were  rightly  organized  and  conducted,  war 
would  cease  of  itself,  as  an  unnecessary  evil. 

This  realization  we  find  expressed  very  distinctly 
in  the  Bible.  The  loftiest  ideal  of  universal  peace 
is  set  forth  in  its  pages,  and  this  is  so  much  the  more 
remarkable,  seeing  that  most  of  the  Bible  is  con- 
103 


104 


The  War  and  the  Bible 


cerned  with  warfare.  A study  of  biblical  history, 
however,  makes  it  clear  that  the  reason  why  the 
Jews  were  engaged  in  war  continually  was  not  that 
they  were  naturally  inclined  to  it,  for  its  own  sake, 
but  rather  because  it  was  necessary  for  them  to 
wage  war  in  order  to  establish  themselves  in  their 
own  land  and  to  defend  their  patrimony.  Most  of 
their  wars  were  defensive.  They  had  to  defend 
themselves  against  the  Amalekites,  against  the  Amor- 
ite',  against  the  Philistines,  against  Egypt  and  Bab- 
ylon and  Assyria,  and  all  the  rest.  Even  the  Canaan- 
ite  wars  were  mostly  defensive,  notwithstanding 
what  contrary  impression  we  might  gain  from  the 
Bible.  When  the  Hebrews  entered  Canaan,  its  in- 
habitants were  spiritually  a moribund  race,  though 
they  surpassed  the  new-comers  in  military  equip- 
ment. The  Israelites  occupied  such  territories  as 
were  either  abandoned  or  easily  surrendered  by  their 
predecessors.  It  was  only  after  they  had  formed 
their  settlements  and  were  attacked,  that  they  banded 
together  for  the  defense  of  their  possessions. 
Throughout  the  Bible  period  the  Jews  were  fight- 
ers. They  were  courageous,  persistent,  and  heroic. 
They  produced  many  leaders  and  heroes.  But  that 
never  uprooted  from  their  hearts  the  natural  in- 
clination to  peace,  nor  obscured  the  ideal  of  ulti- 
mate peace  which  their  seers  cherished  for  the  whole 
earth.  David,  the  most  unwearying  fighter  of  them 
all,  also  was  the  greatest  dreamer  of  peace.  His 
chief  disappointment  was  that,  as  a fighting  man, 


he  was  not  allowed  to  build  the  Temple,  upon  which 
his  heart  was  set.  His  favorite  child  he  called  Solo- 
mon — Peaceable  — and  his  capital,  Jerusalem  — 
Foundation  of  Peace  — just  as  to-day  the  noblest 
and  most  heroic  soldiers  are  dreaming  of  peace  and 
are  expressing  the  hope  that  this  war  might  lead 
to  the  laying  of  a most  secure  foundation  for  the 
structure  of  perpetual  peace. 

“ Patient  has  been  our  creed,  till  now, 

Patient,  too,  our  hope, 

Patient  for  long  our  loathful  deed, 

For  the  just  in  doubt  must  grope. 

But  with  a foe  at  last  arrayed 
Against  the  whole  world’s  right, 

You,  O soul  of  universe, 

Your  very  self  must  fight. 

You  yourself;  so  but  one  prayer 
Need  we  to  lift  — but  one, 

That  by  our  battle  shall  all  war 
Be  utterly  undone!” 

The  noblest  vision  of  peace  in  the  Bible  sprang 
out  of  the  heart  of  the  Assyrian  wars.  It  was  toward 
the  end  of  the  eighth  century  b.  c.  that  the  Assyrian 
conquerors  became  a menace  to  Judea.  The  North- 
ern kingdom  they  had  destroyed  a couple  of  decades 
earlier.  Though  the  fall  of  Judea  was  delayed,  the 
time  was  critical.  The  land  was  full  of  war  and 
rumors  of  war,  caused  by  aggression  of  the  Assyrian 
monarchs,  bent  on  conquest.  The  great  prophet 
Isaiah  lived  at  that  time.  His  message  to  the  peo- 
ple was  one  of  faith.  Indeed,  Isaiah  is  one  of  the 


io  6 


The  War  and  the  Bible 


purest  and  surest  champions  of  faith  in  the  Bible. 
When  Rezin,  of  Aram,  and  Pekah,  of  Israel,  had 
joined  together  in  an  attack  upon  Jerusalem,  and 
King  Ahaz  was  smitten  with  fear  — “ his  heart  was 
moved,  and  the  heart  of  his  people,  as  the  trees  of 
the  forest  are  moved  with  the  wind  ” — Isaiah 
buoyed  him  up  with  words  of  faith.  “ Keep  calm,” 
he  said,  “ and  be  quiet ; fear  not,  neither  let  thy 
heart  be  faint,  because  of  these  twTo  tails  of  smoking 
firebrands.”  “ If  ye  will  not  have  faith,”  he  added, 
“ surely  ye  shall  not  be  established ! ” When  Sen- 
nacherib, the  Assyrian  conqueror,  besieged  Jerusa- 
lem, Isaiah’s  faith  again  flamed  up  and  kindled  con- 
fidence in  the  heart  of  the  people.  He  was  confident 
that  Zion  was  safe,  that  the  Lord  would  not  permit 
it  to  fall,  and  he  sought  to  inspire  his  people  and 
their  king  with  a similar  conviction. 

“ Thus  saith  die  Lord  concerning  the  king  of  Assyria : 
He  shall  not  come  unto  this  city,  nor  shoot  an  arrow 
there,  neither  shall  he  come  before  it  with  shield,  nor 
cast  a mound  against  it.  By  the  way  that  he  came,  by 
the  same  shall  he  return,  and  he  shall  not  come  unto  this 
city,  saith  the  Lord.  For  I will  defend  this  city  to  save 
it,  for  Mine  own  sake,  and  for  My  servant  David’s  sake/’ 

Isaiah  spurned  the  proposal  of  an  alliance  with 
Egypt  as  a safeguard  against  Assyria;  he  preferred 
reliance  upon  God. 

“ Woe  to  them  that  go  down  to  Egypt  for  help, 

And  rely  on  horses, 

And  trust  in  chariots,  because  they  are  many, 


The  Peace  Ideal  of  the  Bible  107 

And  in  horsemen,  because  they  are  exceedingly  mighty; 
But  they  look  not  unto  the  Holy  One  of  Israel, 

Neither  seek  the  Lord! 

Now  the  Egyptians  are  men,  and  not  God, 

And  their  horses  flesh,  and  not  spirit; 

So  when  tve  Lord  shall  stretch  out  His  hand, 

Both  he  that  helped  shall  stumble,  and  he  that  is  helped 
shall  fall, 

And  they  all  shall  perish  together. 

“For  thus  saith  the  Lord  unto  me: 

Like  as  the  lion,  or  the  young  lion,  growling  over  his 
prey, 

Though  a multitude  of  shepherds  be  called  forth  against 
him, 

Will  not  be  dismayed  at  their  voice, 

Nor  abase  himself  for  the  noise  of  them; 

So  will  the  Lord  of  hosts  come  down 

To  fight  upon  mount  Zion,  and  upon  the  hill  thereof. 

As  birds  hovering, 

So  will  the  Lord  of  hosts  protect  Jerusalem; 

He  will  deliver  it  as  He  protecteth  it, 

He  will  rescue  it  as  He  passeth  over. 

Then  shall  Asshur  fall  writh  the  sword,  not  of  man, 
And  the  sword,  not  of  men,  shall  devour  him; 

And  he  shall  flee  from  the  sword, 

And  his  ytung  men  shall  become  tributary. 

And  his  rock  shall  pass  away  by  reason  of  terror, 

And  his  princes  shall  be  dismayed  at  the  ensign, 

Saith  the  Lord,  whose  fire  is  in  Zion, 

And  his  furnace  in  Jerusalem.” 

It  was  Isaiah,  the  prophet  of  faith,  that  gave  to  the 
world  the  lofty  vision  of  universal  peace,  a vision 
which  was  repeated  by  Micah  and  was  destined 
never  to  die.  It  is  a vision  clothed  in  the  language 


t 


108 


The  War  and  the  Bible 


r 


of  an  agricultural  and  pastoral  people,  but  its  mean- 
ing is  clear. 

“And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  the  end  of  days, 

That  the  mountain  of  the  Lord’s  house  shall  be  estab- 
lished as  the  top  of  the  mountains, 

And  shall  be  exalted  above  the  hills; 

And  all  nations  shall  flow  unto  it. 

And  many  peoples  shall  go  and  say: 

1 Come  ye,  and  let  us  go  up  to  the  mountain  of  the 
Lord, 

To  the  house  of  the  God  of  Jacob; 

And  He  will  teach  us  of  His  ways, 

And  we  will  walk  in  His  paths.’ 

For  out  of  Zion  shall  go  forth  the  law, 

And  the  word  of  the  Lord  from  Jerusalem. 

And  He  shall  judge  between  the  nations, 

And  shall  decide  for  many  peoples; 

And  they  shall  beat  their  swords  into  plowshares, 

And  their  spears  into  pruning-hooks ; 

Nation  shall  not  lift  up  sword  against  nation, 

/Ve?f  Neither  shall  they  learn  war  any  more.” 

This  ideal  of  peace  never  died  out  of  the  hearts 
of  Israel.  It  deepened  in  meaning  with  the  years. 
It  expanded  with  the  events  of  the  centuries.  Echoes 
of  it  we  find  in  all  subsequent  Jewish  writings.  It 
finally  took  the  form  of  the  great  messianic  hope  of 
the  Jewish  people  — of  the  golden  age  — a hope 
which  has  had  a tremendous  influence  on  human  life. 
But  one  is  wholly  mistaken  if  one  thinks  that  this 
radiant  ideal  cherished  by  the  Prophets  blinded  them 
to  the  difficulties  of  its  attainment  or  to  the  con- 
ditions which  must  precede  its  ultimate  realization. 


The  Peace  Ideal  of  the  Bible 


109 


On  the  contrary,  it  was  they  who  knew  how  much 
the  world  would  have  to  fight  and  how  much  it 
would  have  to  learn  before  peace  became  a possi 
bility. 

“Is  peace  so  easy?  Nay,  the  names 
That  are  most  dear  and  most  divine 
To  men,  are  like  the  heavenly  flames 
That  farthest  from  possession  shine. 

Peace,  love,  truth,  freedom,  unto  these 
The  way  is  through  the  storming  sea.” 

At  the  very  dawn  of  its  history,  Israel  had  to  pass 
through  the  storming  sea  for  the  sake  of  freedom. 
The  Prophets  dreamed  of  peace,  but  they  ceaselessly 
emphasized  the  conditions  essential  to  its  attain- 
ment. 

Among  these  conditions  we  might  name,  first  of 
all,  the  recognition  of  the  law  of  Righteousness  and 
its  application  in  the  conduct  of  human  affairs.  The 
Prophets  leave  no  doubt  on  this  point.  There  can 
be  no  peace  in  the  world  as  long  as  righteousness 
does  not  rule.  Iniquity  is  the  enemy  of  peace.  Vio- 
lence destroys  it.  There  is  no  peace  for  the  wicked, 
nor  for  a world  dominated  by  wickedness. 

“For  wickedness  burneth  as  the  fire; 

It  devoureth  the  briers  and  thorns; 

Yea,  it  kindleth  in  the  thickets  of  the  forest, 

And  they  roll  upward  in  thick  clouds  of  smoke. 

Through  the  wrath  of  the  Lord  of  hosts  is  the  land 
burnt  up; 

The  people  also  are  as  the  fuel  of  fire; 

No  man  spareth  his  brother.” 


no 


The  War  and  the  Bible 


“ Woe  unto  them  that  decree  unrighteous  decrees, 

And  to  the  writers  that  write  iniquity; 

To  turn  aside  the  needy  from  judgment, 

And  to  take  away  the  right  of  the  poor  of  My  people. 
That  widows  may  be  their  spoil, 

And  that  they  may  make  the  fatherless  their  prey! 
And  what  will  ye  do  in  the  day  of  visitation, 

And  in  the  ruin  which  shall  come  from  far? 

To  whom  will  ye  flee  for  help? 

And  where  will  ye  leave  your  glory? 

They  can  do  nought  except  crouch  under  the  captives, 
And  fall  under  the  slain.” 

The  first  condition  of  peace  is  the  destruction  of  the 
reign  of  iniquity.  With  unwearying  frequency  the 
Prophets  reiterate  this  law. 

“ Behold,  the  Lord,  the  Lord  of  hosts, 

Shall  lop  the  boughs  with  terror; 

And  the  high  ones  of  stature  shall  be  hewn  down, 

And  the  lofty  shall  be  laid  low, 

And  He  shall  cut  down  the  thickets  of  the  forest  with 
iron, 

And  Lebanon  shall  fall  by  a mighty  one.” 

“And  there  shall  come  forth  a shoot  out  of  the  stock  of 
Jesse, 

And  a twig  shall  grow  forth  out  of  his  roots. 

And  the  spirit  of  the  Lord  shall  rest  upon  him, 

The  spirit  of  wisdom  and  understanding, 

The  spirit  of  counsel  and  might, 

The  spirit  of  knowledge  and  of  the  fear  of  the  Lord, 
And  his  delight  shall  be  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord; 

And  he  shall  not  judge  after  the  sight  of  his  eyes, 
Neither  decide  after  the  hearing  of  his  ears; 

But  with  righteousness  shall  he  judge  the  poor, 

And  decide  with  equity  for  the  meek  of  the  land; 


The  Peace  Ideal  of  the  Bible 


III 


And  he  shall  smite  the  land  with  the  rod  of  his  mouth, 
And  with  the  breath  of  his  lips  shall  he  slay  the  wicked. 
And  righteousness  shall  be  the  girdle  of  his  loins, 

And  faithfulness  the  girdle  of  his  reins, 

And  the  wolf  shall  dwell  with  the  lamb, 

And  the  leopard  shall  lie  down  with  the  kid; 

And  the  calf  and  the  young  lion  and  the  falling  to- 
gether; 

And  a little  child  shall  lead  them. 

And  the  cow  and  the  bear  shall  feed; 

Their  young  ones  shall  lie  down  together; 

And  the  lion  shall  eat  straw  like  the  ox. 

And  the  sucking  child  shall  play  on  the  hole  of  the 
asp, 

And  the  weaned  child  shall  put  his  hand  on  the  basi- 
lisk’s den. 

They  shall  not  hurt  nor  destroy 
In  all  my  holy  mountain; 

For  the  earth  shall  be  full  of  the  knowledge  of  the 
Lord, 

As  the  waters  cover  the  sea. 

“And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  that  day, 

That  the  root  of  Jesse,  that  standeth  for  an  ensign  of 
the  peoples, 

Unto  him  shall  the  nations  seek; 

And  his  resting-place  shall  be  glorious.” 

Moreover,  the  Prophets  believe  that  peace  will 
result  from  a growing  sense  of  the  unity  of  man- 
kind and  the  unity  of  God.  This  belief  is  expressed 
by  them  in  different  ways,  and  put  forth  in  the  lan- 
guage of  their  times.  But  the  underlying  thought  is 
unmistakable.  When  the  Prophets  speak  of  many 
nations  going  up  to  the  house  of  the  God  of  Jacob, 


1 1 2 


The  War  and  the  Bible 


when  they  speak  of  God’s  house  becoming  a house  of 
prayer  for  all  peoples,  when  they  speak  of  the  day 
when  the  Lord  shall  be  one  and  His  name  one  — 
this  is  what  they  have  in  mind.  The  full  significance 
of  such  utterances  we  can  grasp  only  if  we  judge 
them  by  the  standards  of  those  days.  They  belong 
to  a time  when  most  people  believed  in  national 
gods  and  national  sanctuaries.  That  was  the  normal 
religion  of  the  times,  the  general  outlook.  Every 
people  had  its  own  God,  and  every  God  cared  for 
his  own  people  only.  When  the  Prophets  wiped  out 
national  boundaries  in  religious  conceptions  — in 
prayer  and  worship  — when  they  opened  the  pos- 
sibility of  diverse  peoples  praying  to  One  and  the 
same  God  — that  in  itself  was  a wonderful  tran- 
scension  of  existent  spiritual  limitations.  It  inau- 
gurated the  idea  of  human  brotherhood  as  a pre- 
liminary to  perpetual  peace.  “ Many  people  and 
strong  nations  shall  come  to  seek  the  Lord  of  hosts 
in  Jerusalem,  and  to  pray  before  the  Lord.  In  those 
days  it  shall  come  to  pass  that  ten  men  shall  take 
hold,  out  of  all  languages  of  the  nations,  shall  even 
take  hold  of  the  skirt  of  him  that  is  a Jew,  saying: 
We  will  go  with  you,  for  we  have  heard  that  God 
is  with  you ! ” In  this  regard,  nothing  in  the  Bible 
surpasses  the  nineteenth  chapter  of  Isaiah,  where 
the  Prophet  forecasts  the  union  — fraternal  and 
religious  — of  Egypt,  Assyria,  and  Israel. 

“ In  that  day  shall  there  be  an  altar  to  the  Lord  in  the 
midst  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  and  a pillar  at  the  border 


The  Peace  Ideal  of  the  Bible 


113 

thereof  to  the  Lord.  And  it  shall  be  for  a sign  and  for 
a witness  unto  the  Lord  of  hosts  in  the  land  of  Egypt; 
for  they  shall  cry  unto  the  Lord  because  of  the  oppressors, 
and  He  will  send  them  a saviour,  and  a defender,  who 
will  deliver  them.  And  the  Lord  shall  make  Himself 
known  to  Egypt,  and  the  Egyptians  shall  know  the  Lord 
in  that  day;  yea,  they  shall  worship  with  sacrifice  and 
offering,  and  shall  vow  a vow  unto  the  Lord,  and  shall 
perform  it.  And  the  Lord  will  smite  Egypt,  smiting  and 
healing;  and  they  shall  return  unto  the  Lord,  and  He  will 
be  entreated  of  them,  and  will  heal  them. 

“ In  that  day  shall  there  be  a highway  out  of  Egypt  to 
Assyria,  and  the  Assyrian  shall  come  into  Egypt,  and  the 
Egyptian  into  Assyria ; and  the  Egyptians  shall  worship 
with  the  Assyrians. 

“ In  that  day  shall  Israel  be  the  third  with  Egypt  and 
with  Assyria,  a blessing  in  the  midst  of  the  earth;  for 
that  the  Lord  of  hosts  hath  blessed  him,  saying:  ‘Blessed 
be  Egypt  My  people,  and  Assyria  the  work  of  My  hands, 
and  Israel  Mine  inheritance.’  ” 

Here  are  the  two  mightiest  and  most  iniquitous 
conquerors  of  the  ancient  Orient;  here  is  one  of 
them  whom  the  Prophet  has  just  denounced  for  lust 
and  violence;  and  here  is  Israel,  the  traditional  vic- 
tim of  both,  repeatedly  crushed  between  the  upper 
and  the  nether  millstone  of  their  military  ambitions : 
yet  all  three  some  day  are  to  form  one  brotherhood 
through  the  recognition  of  the  same  God. 

“ In  that  day  shall  Israel  be  the  third  with  Egypt  and 
with  Assyria,  a blessing  in  the  midst  of  the  earth;  for 
that  the  Lord  of  hosts  hath  blessed  him,  saying:  ‘Blessed 
be  Egypt  My  people,  and  Assyria  the  work  of  My  hands, 
and  Israel  Mine  inheritance.’  ” 


The  War  and  the  Bible 


114 

Such  a growing  sense  of  human  brotherhood,  the 
Prophets  felt,  would  increase  the  likelihood  of  uni- 
versal peace. 

And,  finally,  the  Prophets  depended  on  the  in- 
creasing spiritual  ennoblement  of  humanity.  The 
time  would  come  when  the  Spirit  of  God  shall  be 
poured  forth  on  all  alike,  when  the  Divine  Law 
shall  be  put  into  human  hearts,  when  the  earth  shall 
be  full  of  the  knowledge  of  the  Lord,  when  princes 
shall  rule  in  righteousness  and  faithfulness,  when 
men  shall  learn  God’s  ways  — when  genuine  spir- 
itual nobility  shall  have  become  universal.  Then 
peace  also  will  become  a universal  reality.  “ The 
effect  of  righteousness  shall  be  peace,  quietness  and 
security  forever.” 

“ Rise  up,  ye  women  that  are  at  ease,  and  hear  my  voice ; 

Ye  confident  daughters,  give  ear  unto  my  speech. 

After  a year  and  days  shall  ye  be  troubled,  ye  confident 
women ; 

For  the  vintage  shall  fail,  the  ingathering  shall  not 
come. 

Tremble,  ye  women  that  are  at  ease; 

Be  troubled,  ye  confident  ones; 

Strip  you,  and  make  you  bare, 

And  gird  sackcloth  upon  your  loins, 

Smiting  upon  the  breasts 

For  the  pleasant  fields,  for  the  fruitful  vine; 

For  the  land  of  my  people 

Whereon  thorns  and  briers  come  up; 

Yea,  for  all  the  houses  of  joy 

And  the  joyous  city. 

For  the  palace  shall  be  forsaken; 


The  Peace  Ideal  of  the  Bible 


115 


The  city  with  its  stir  shall  be  deserted; 

The  mound  and  the  tower  shall  be  for  dens  for  ever, 
A joy  of  wild  asses,  a pasture  of  flocks; 

Until  the  spirit  be  poured  upon  us  from  on  high, 

And  the  wilderness  become  a fruitful  field, 

And  the  fruitful  field  be  counted  for  a forest. 

Then  justice  shall  dwell  in  the  wilderness, 

And  righteousness  shall  abide  in  the  fruitful  field. 

And  the  work  of  righteousness  shall  be  peace; 

And  the  effect  of  righteousness  quietness  and  confi- 
dence for  ever. 

And  my  people  shall  abide  in  a peaceable  habitation, 
And  in  secure  dwellings,  and  in  quiet  resting-places.'* 

As  we  view  the  situation  to-day,  we  cannot  help 
realizing  that  the  Prophets  were  right.  Only  when 
the  conditions  they  envisaged  are  fulfilled,  perma- 
nent peace  shall  come  on  earth.  There  must  be  vin- 
dication of  the  law  of  righteousness;  there  must  be 
a deeper  feeling  of  human  brotherhood;  there  must 
be  universal  spiritual  ennoblement.  Those  who  fight 
and  who  Jabor  for  the  consummation  of  these  things 
are  working  for  durable  peace  among  men. 


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